Jere Haapalainen - With a relaxed approach towards success

Many internationally successful elite athletes get their first taste of their careers in sports at their city’s sporting facilities. This is also the case with Jere Haapalainen from Tampere, who thanks his hometown for providing him with excellent training opportunities. Tampere has provided him with a training setting when he is working towards his goal of getting to the top of track and field athletics.  

– Tampere is a big place and talented athletes have always come from here. The city has all the necessary services and sports facilities, he says.

Jere Haapalainen’s favourite training place is the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre.  
– It provides good conditions for training, such as a track and a gym. Everything is in order. My favourite workouts are preparation exercises for competitions, when you put on your track shoes and run fast sprints or hurdle races in the hall.

Jere Haapalainen has just completed a successful season that culminated in the 400-metre hurdles at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Jerusalem. Haapalainen broke Finland’s record for under 20-year-olds with his time, 50.02.

– This has been a very rewarding season. What happened was that everything went as planned, Haapalainen explains at the Sampo Upper Secondary School library, where he was preparing for his matriculation examinations in mathematics and Swedish in early autumn.

Haapalainen and his long-term coach Juha Lehto made no major changes to the training programme, but they got lucky when it came to Haapalainen’s fitness. He suffered no illnesses or injuries and could complete the planned training schedule.

His home club, Tampereen Pyrintö, has grown accustomed to raising athletes in various sports. In fact, Haapalainen’s background is in decathlon. According to him, this versatility is exactly the thing that has allowed him to succeed.

Motivation and support in order

As physical activity has been the Haapalainen family’s way of life, it is not something he questions. You can tell he has a healthy attitude to sports from everything he is saying.
– I relax by exercising. I play disc golf and golf, and may also go for walks and runs on my leisure time, Haapalainen laughs.
– I don’t remember ever being pressured to go for a walk or run. It’s just always been a big part of my life, I’ve had that passion in me.

For Haapalainen, one particular group of supporters has played an irreplaceable role.
– My coach also has five other athletes with whom I train together. The group is very helpful when you have to go to the swimming pool for aquajogging in the mornings. We’ve known each other for 10 years and we encourage each other. We’re also best friends during our leisure time. With the guys, we often go to the Kaupinoja sauna to relax.

In addition to Haapalainen, the group includes Jaakko Lingus, Konsta Kankainen, Eino Perämää, Dani Lirkki and Ada Varvio.

Excited about new challenges

Haapalainen’s goal is to become a fully professional athlete. He has left the junior championships behind and is excited about new challenges.
– My goal for the next season is to take part in a major sporting event for adults.

This could be the European Athletics Championships in Rome or even the Paris Summer Olympics. However, Haapalainen knows that this would require continuing the development and successes of the past season.

Let’s finish with a little thought experiment: What would the best Tampere of the future be like for athletes?
– It is important to take care of the condition of sports venues, but I think things are also good the way they are now. It is more important that the training facilities are easy to reach. I think the training venues for all sports should be available all year round. I think everything is working well.