Nora Lindahl secures relay gold for HIFK as men’s race ends in protest drama

The men’s sprint relay at the Finnish Athletics Relay Championships turned into a long protest drama before the final results were confirmed.

Jyväskylän Kenttäurheilijat initially crossed the line first, but officials disqualified the team for an exchange violation. A verbal protest then briefly restored the result. Polvijärven Urheilijat and Lappeenrannan Urheilumiehet responded with counterprotests over Jyväskylä’s third exchange.

The jury ultimately ruled that the exchange took place beyond the takeover zone, making it a long exchange. The change was linked to a leg injury suffered by third-leg runner Konsta Alatupa, which allowed anchor Aku Kulju to get too far ahead.

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Something definitely happened, at least a strain. It does not hurt, but I can feel it. It is frustrating.

“Something definitely happened, at least a strain. It does not hurt, but I can feel it. It is frustrating,” Alatupa said in a statement from the Finnish Athletics Federation. Polvijärven Urheilijat therefore retained last year’s championship.

The women’s race produced a cleaner celebration for Helsinki IFK, even though the team competed without Lotta Kemppinen, who injured her leg in the Sweden match a week earlier. Nora Lindahl anchored HIFK from a significant deficit and edged Joensuun Kataja by 0.05 seconds.

“I thought, ‘Oh, no’ when I got the baton, but I wanted to fight. I have always enjoyed the relay championships,” Lindahl said. She said she would spend the autumn taking a short break in Los Angeles before beginning a new training season in October and attending a longer camp in South Africa around Christmas.

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I thought, ‘Oh, no’ when I got the baton, but I wanted to fight. I have always enjoyed the relay championships. And when my last competition was a week ago and I was invited here for the relays, I was immediately ready.