Dare to dream of Olympic medals and believe in yourself! – Sports – svenska.yle.fi

A new wind is blowing on men’s gymnastics. With more camp days for national team groups, concentration of experience at five clubs across the country and mentoring support from British champion coach Paul Hall, Finnish gymnasts must also dare to dream of Olympic medals and strive for them.

When Englishman Paul Hall visited Finland last year as a teacher on a training course, there was mutual admiration between the organizers and the guest. This has led to Hall being a mentor for the youth national team this year, meaning he is participating in four camps in Finland and the gymnasts are making a return visit to Huntingdon Gymnastics Club in England, where Paul Hall is a coach on a daily basis.

A reputable and popular head coach

Paul Hall is a respected coach, with 30 years’ experience in the profession. Among his current and former students, he has three Olympic medal winners, four World Cup winners and more than 20 European Championship medal winners, including Louis Smith and Daniel Keatings. At the London 2012 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Hall coached the British men’s national team.

When Finland youth coach Rikko Koivonen was still part of the national team ten years ago, Great Britain and Finland were roughly equal in team competitions at EU level. Since then, Great Britain has risen to the global elite and at their home Games in London 2012, the host country won an Olympic bronze medal in the men’s team event.

So, there is something to learn from this British success story.

– The reason we asked for help from the UK in particular and not Russia or China is because our cultures and school systems are quite similar, says Koivonen.

– We want to know how they arrange education and training for young gymnasts in Great Britain. How to do it so gymnasts can train enough to have a chance at getting to the top.

The mental part is important – believe in yourself!

For his part, Paul Hall sees one of his biggest tasks as making Finnish coaches and gymnasts believe that success is possible. He sees Finland standing today where the British stood a few years ago and thinks it is exciting to be able to join in and work towards new Finnish successes such as Jani Tanskanen’s gold medal at the World Cup less than 20 years ago.

– Back home in Great Britain, it took a long time for us to start believing in our ability to reach the top and win Olympic medals. “I now want to pass this lesson on to gymnasts and coaches in Finland,” Hall says.

– Raise your goal high, think about the Olympic Games, dream about the Olympic Games and work to achieve them.

Five clubs and three national teams

Organizationally, there have also been changes within men’s artistic gymnastics in the Finnish Gymnastics Federation. On the men’s side, there are now three full-time coaches, each responsible for their age group along with their own coaching team. Antti Palkula is in charge of the under-14 boys, Rikko Koivonen for the under-17s, and Teemu Holopainen for the men.

Camp activities are extensive with 80 days per year for men, 50 for boys and 40 days for boys. At the association level, elite training was concentrated in five associations across the country; Espoon Telinetaturit, Voimisteluseura Helsinki, Turun Urheililiitto, Tampereen Sisu and Jyväskylän Voimistelijat.

Know-how in theory – but in practice?

Rikko Koivonen points out that in Finland there are many talented coaches who know how to raise an elite gymnast – in theory. It is the practical work in the training rooms that needs improvement.

– Training sessions should be planned better, trainers should be more active during the training itself, they should ask for more repetitions from trainees, etc.

According to Paul Hall, a lot of things are already being done right. And of course Tomi Tuha’s overall victory at the World Cup on vault last year and Oscar Kerme’s last place in the Round 6 at the European Championships two weeks ago show that it is possible to reach the European elite at least with today’s investment.

The trainers are ambitious and want to learn new things, and the camp activities for different age groups are well organized.

– There are many young people in Finland who train purposefully and have the required physical and mental qualities. For them, it’s just a matter of continuing to work. For the association and others who live off the money, it is important to ensure that camp activities can continue as they are now, so that the gymnasts can focus on gymnastics.

Sportmagasinet followed Paul Hall and the youth national team at camp in Courtagne earlier this spring. Watch the feature on the program on Tuesday 28.4 at 21.00 on Yale Fame.

Read more about Paul Hall on his website.