Heli Koivula jumping at the 2001 World Championships (© Getty Images)
Helsinki, FinlandHeli KoivulaKruger, 29, European Triple Jump silver medallist, one of the stars the host nation had hoped to count on at this summer’s IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, has decided to quit her career.
Fifth at the 2001 World Championships, Koivula-Kruger confirmed yesterday that her Achilles tendons had been giving her trouble in the last couple of years. She was far off her best results in Athens last year, and the pain had marred her preparation for the World Championships.
But Koivula-Kruger also had much happier news, as she is expecting her first child. She is married to Frantz Kruger, the South African discus thrower who took Olympic bronze in 2000.
“My sporting life is now behind me, and a new interesting time in my life is now beginning. This gives a new direction to my life,” confirmed Koivula-Kruger on Thursday.
Her best result was silver in the European Championships in 2002, where she surprised everyone with a windy 14.83m (2.2m/s) leap in the first round and held on until the final round when Britain’s Ashia Hansen jumped 15.00 (also windy – 3.1m/s) to take the gold. The Finn responded well but her mark in the region of 15 metres was a foul.
Two years ago Koivula-Kruger jumped the still standing Finnish national record of 14.39m which remains her wind legal best.
She was also World Junior silver medallist in 1994.
Leena Lavonius - Helsinki 2005 - and the IAAF
