Daniel Ståhl stood for a fantastic performance when he threw the year’s best at Finnkampen. And Maja Åskag maximized her points when she won the long jump.
Daniel Ståhl loves competing at Finnkampen. It became especially clear this year when he threw a new year’s best in the slightly chilly air. He came straight from the Diamond League competition in Rome where he competed on Friday night. He entered the competition with a throw of 65.91 and then improved several times over the course of the competition.
In the second round the throw measured 66.46, in the third 68.21 and in the fifth round he struck with a new year’s best with 69.03.
– I have experienced Finnkampen all my life. My mother is from Finland and I am incredibly proud to be half-Finnish, this feels like home too even though I am Swedish. It is always fun to throw in Finland where there is always good pressure in the arenas, says a happy Daniel after the victory.
Wictor Petersson, who won the shot put competition yesterday, and Jesper Ahlin ensured that there was a Swedish triple in the discus competition. Jesper Ahlin finished second in 57.10 after jumping from sixth to second in the final throw, and Wictor Petersson was third in a year’s best 55.99.
Maja Åskag took her second victory
Maja Åskag emerged victorious from yesterday’s three-stage competition and the question was whether she would be able to secure a double victory and also win the long distance competition. And it looked like it could be like that when half the competition had passed and Maja led with 6.38 ahead of Taika Koilahti’s 6.16. Maja increased in the fourth round to 6.43, which became the winning result. Behind Maja it was extremely tight and between second and fifth place there was only eight centimeters.
Emilia Kjellberg finished fourth in 6.13 and Kaiza Karlén fifth one centimeter behind in 6.12.
Evelina Henriksson secured her second second place
For the first few laps, the women’s 10,000 meters ran in a single group, but as the race went on, the field became more spread out, and by half the race, there were runners all around the course.
The best Swede then was Evelina Henriksson in second place. She then held that position all the way to the finish, where she set a new personal record of 33:44.31.
In third place came Lovisa Modig in 35:08.20 and just seven hundredths behind came Johanna Larsson in 35:08.27. That meant a point advantage for Sweden.
Expected tough task for the Swedish pole women
In the women’s pole vault, the Swedish pole vaulters had been competing for a while before the Finns stepped into the competition. The first Finn stepped in at 4.05, a height that was too high for Sandra Alvero and Annika Jönsson, who pulled away. Gabriella Jönsson managed but pulled out at the next height, which was 4.15.
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