Mika Luoto took 15th place in Kona last year, one of his best finishes in the lava fields; he was 12th in 2000. Luoto, who hails from Finland, is back this year and looking to improve by at least five places. Smart money says he can.
Luoto himself says 2002 is in a way a make-or-break year for him as he’s had a good round of training leading up to the race. You’ve heard of Finland’s most famous triathlete, the Ironman great Pauli Kiuru, but if Luoto has a good showing you’ll be learning about a new Finnish find this year.
Luoto has lived his whole life in the southwestern Finnish town of Turku, which he says “used to be a quite active tri-town 10 years ago when I started triathlon.” He took up the sport 10 years ago before starting college, and simultaneously trained and studied for seven years. He graduated two and half years ago and works as a teacher of math and physics: “I’m still a half-professional because you really can’t get your living from triathlon in Finland right now,” he said.
To help prepare for his trip to Kona, Luoto and friend and training partner Tom Soderdahl (last year’s top age-grouper in a time of 9:11) traveled to Carlsbad, Calif., to train for two weeks before heading further west with coach Mauno Uusivirta, a three-time Olympic cyclist.
“If I get to [the] podium and get some prize money, maybe I could really start to do this as my profession,” Luoto said of his hopes for this year.
As for the triathlon scene in Finland, Luoto said it’s fallen off precipitously in the last few years.
“There is not much to tell about triathlon in Finland,” Luoto said. “It has gone down so fast after I started, it's hard to believe. There are only a couple of good races and fewer than 10 good triathletes (men and women) in Finland left.
“The Finnish winter has to have something to do with that, because in most of the places it's way too long. Where I live it's not that snowy, but cold anyway. And I like to ski even if I'm not that good (Tom [Soderdahl] used to be a skier before he started triathlon), but you can't just ski month after month—so if you want to [succeed] in triathlon, you have to go at least to Southern Europe to ride your bike during the winter and spring. But in summer Finland really is a wonderful country and good place to train and race.”
