Juha Väätäinen

He finished the Saint Silvester Road Race anyway, placing 26th.

As his original intention was to continue training in Brazil after the race, he decided to stay in Penedo, Itatiaia.

Juha Väätäinen (born 12 July 1941) is a Finnish former athlete.

He won his first junior Finnish championship in the 400 metres hurdles in 1960.

Väätäinen was coached by Paavo Meskus from 1963 until Meskus' death in 1968.

However, Väätäinen was pretty independent and planned his training mostly by himself.

In 1965-67, his main event was the 800 metres, in which he won Nordic Championship in 1965, beating, for example, young Anders Gärderud.

He was also interested in altitude training as early as the winter of 1966-67, when he spent seven months in Alamosa as a student.

In the summer of 1968, Väätäinen trained for five weeks in Rhodes.

On his return to Finland, he ran the 3000 metres in Helsinki in 8:01.0, improving his personal best by 52 seconds.

The competition was won by 3000 metres steeplechase world record holder Jouko Kuha, with a new Finnish record of 7:56.6.

After the 1968 season, Väätäinen decided to focus on long-distance running.

In 1969, Väätäinen engaged in altitude training for the second time, in Cervinia.

He ran the 10,000 metres in 28:53.0 and the 5000 metres in 13:50.0, and was selected for the European Championships in Athens.

However, he was not able to compete because of an infection he received from a drug injection due to his weak blood test results.

In December 1969, Väätäinen stayed in Frankfurt on his trip to São Paulo.

His foot slipped on the snowy road and he injured an Achilles tendon.

He was the eldest of the successful Finnish runners, the others being Lasse Virén, Pekka Vasala, Tapio Kantanen, Martti Vainio, and Kaarlo Maaninka, who came into the limelight in the 1970s.

Because of the injury, his training was reduced until March 1970.

However, in April 1970, he ran 1100 km.

In 1970, Väätäinen improved his personal bests: 13:43.2 in the 5000 metres and 28:19.6 in the 10,000 metres.

After the season, the injured Achilles tendon was operated on.

In the winter of 1970-71, Väätäinen trained again in Brazil.

He is the winner of the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter gold medals at the 1971 European Championships, held in Helsinki.

The 1971 European Championships 10,000 metre final was held on 10 August.

The race is regarded by many as one of the greatest distance races of all time.

In front of a highly excited Finnish crowd, Väätäinen was in a group of six runners at the final bell following David Bedford, who had led from the start.

Väätäinen and Jürgen Haase both kicked past Bedford in a thrilling last lap "burn-up", bringing the crowd to its feet as they battled neck and neck to the line, with Väätainen just edging out Haase in a new Finnish record time of 27:52.78.

Väätäinen ran the last 400 metres in 53.8 seconds.

The 5000 metre final was held four days later.

Väätäinen won this event as well, beating Jean Wadoux and Harald Norpoth in a new Finnish record time of 13:32.8.

He came in 10th at the Saint Silvester Road Race.

In Penedo, he ran over 1000 km per month.

In late March, he flew to Mexico City for altitude training.

In Mexico, he ran 350 km per week at his height.

In May, he traveled to California, where he improved his 2-mile Finnish record to 8:33.0.

After his return to Europe, Väätäinen continued altitude training in Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via.

Returning to Finland, Väätäinen set new Finnish records in the 3000 metres (7:56.4) on 20 July in Helsinki; and the 10,000 metres (28:12.8) at the Finnish Championships on 23 July in Oulu.

He served as a Member of the Finnish Parliament for Helsinki, representing the Finns Party between 2011 and 2015.

Väätäinen started his running career as a sprinter.