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Jussi Kanervo

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Jussi Kanervo
Personal information
Born (1993-02-01) 1 February 1993 (age 31)
Tornio, Finland[1]
Sport
Country Finland
SportAthletics
Event(s)110 m hurdles
400 m hurdles
College teamSouth Carolina Gamecocks
ClubAlatornion Pirkat
HIFK (2010–)
Coached byCurtis Frye
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)110 m hurdles: 13.88 (2013)
400 m hurdles: 49.66 (2015)
Medal record
European U23 Championships
Silver medal – second place 2015 Tallinn 400 m hurdles
Youth Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Singapore 110 m hurdles
Updated on 16 July 2015

Jussi Aleksi Samuli Kanervo (born 1 February 1993) is a Finnish hurdler. He won silver in the 400 m hurdles at the 2015 European U23 Championships and bronze in the 110 m hurdles at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

Biography

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Kanervo was born in Tornio in northern Finland and set national age group records from an early age, breaking the national under-11 record for boys' 150 metres in 2003 and the national indoor under-12 record for 60 metres the following year.[1][2] He competed in both the 110 m hurdles and the 400 m hurdles at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Brixen, Italy, but was eliminated in the early rounds in both events.[1] In 2010 Kanervo's family relocated to Helsinki, and he joined the training group of national hurdles coach Anatoly Mikhailov.[2] Kanervo represented Finland at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August 2010, winning bronze in boys' 110 m hurdles (91.4 cm) in 13.53 and breaking his own national youth record; he was the first Finn to win a Youth Olympic medal.[2]

Kanervo placed fifth in the 110 m hurdles at the 2011 European Junior Championships.[1] He won his first senior-level medals at the Finnish championships in 2012, winning bronze indoors in the 60 m hurdles and gold outdoors in the 110 m hurdles.[1] At the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona he again competed in the 110 m hurdles, setting a national junior record (13.61/99 cm) in the semi-finals; in the final he ran 13.62 and placed fifth.[1][3]

Kanervo repeated as Finnish champion in the 110 m hurdles in 2013; he represented Finland in that event at the European U23 Championships in Tampere, but was eliminated in the heats.[1] After the 2013 season Kanervo became a student at South Carolina University, coached by Curtis Frye.[4] He took up the 400 m hurdles again in 2014, running 51.52 in his first race over the senior (91.4 cm) hurdles; the time broke Ossi Mildh's HIFK club record from 1954 and was the fastest ever debut by a Finn.[5][6] He won his third consecutive Finnish championship title in the 110 m hurdles that year, but his times in that event had stagnated and the 400 m hurdles became his main event;[1][4] at the 2014 European Athletics Championships in Zürich he competed only in the 400 m hurdles, setting a personal best 50.35 in the heats but withdrawing from the semi-finals due to an injury.[4][7]

Kanervo broke 50 seconds in the 400 m hurdles for the first time on 11 April 2015 in Greenville, North Carolina, running 49.78.[8] He suffered from a persistent groin injury through the 2015 collegiate season, but stayed in good form; he qualified for his first NCAA championship final, placing sixth in 50.20.[9] At the 2015 European U23 Championships in Tallinn Kanervo improved his personal best to 49.66, winning silver behind Patryk Dobek of Poland; he was Finland's only medalist.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Jussi Kanervo at Tilastopaja (in Finnish) (registration required)
  2. ^ a b c Sonninen, Antti-Pekka (2010). "Historiantekijä Kanervo aitoi etelään". Yleisurheilun Kuvalehti (in Finnish). Vol. 8.
  3. ^ Nieminen, Mikko (11 July 2012). "Arttu Kangas MM-finaalin neljäs, Jussi Kanervo aitoi SE:n" (in Finnish). Yleisurheilu.fi. Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Hänninen, Petri (19 May 2015). "Carl Lewis neuvoi Jussi Kanervoa: "Keep things simple"" (in Finnish). Yleisradio. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Jussi Kanervo sävähdytti!" (in Finnish). HIFK Friidrott. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  6. ^ Hollo, Lex (26 March 2014). "Jussi Kanervo virittelee kesän yleisurheilupommia" (in Finnish). MTV3. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  7. ^ Heikura, Kerttu (13 August 2014). "Jättiyllätys! Oskari Mörö SE-ajalla loppukilpailuun!" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. Archived from the original on July 20, 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Kanervo aitoi ennätyksensä 49,78" (in Finnish). Yleisurheilu.fi. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Kanervo kuudes Yhdysvaltain yliopistomestaruuskisoissa" (in Finnish). Yleisurheilu.fi. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  10. ^ Sonninen, Antti-Pekka (12 July 2015). "Kanervo rutisti alle 50 sekunnin ja juhli EM-hopeaa" (in Finnish). Aamulehti. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
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