Grand shot put competition to take place in Maidla Village next Friday, June 24
Photo: kuldliiga.ee archive
On St. John’s Day, June 24, a bronze sculpture of legendary athlete Heino Lipp by sculptor Aivar Simson will be unveiled in Maidla Village, Ida-Viru County within the framework of the HEINO LIPP 100 project and Heino Lipp’s Memorial Competition in shot put will take place, for the first time including Estonian Shot Put Championships.
The shot put competition will indeed be top notch - as many as three European Championships gold medalists will be participating alongside Estonia’s best. A festive mood will be ensured by the band Curly Strings.
In exactly one week, an unprecedented number of strong men and women will gather in Maidla Nature Resort manor complex in Lüganuse rural municipality. There, international shot put competitions will be held in memory of Heino Lipp, legendary Estonian track and field athlete, the best shot putter in Europe of his time, and one of the world’s top performers in combined track and field events.
Heino Lipp was born on June 21, 1922, in Maidla Village, near the town of Kiviõli, Estonia. Lipp, who remains one of the most talented Estonian athletes of all time, was robbed of the chance to win medals at Olympic Games and many other international title competitions by the persecutory regime and petty politics. Heino Lipp would have been the main favorite for the Olympic victory in decathlon in London (1948) and a potential Olympic medalist in Helsinki (1952); furthermore, our legendary athlete could have won the gold medal in the European Shot Put Championships in Oslo (1946) as well as Brussels (1950). Between 1946 and 1951, Heino Lipp led the European rankings in shot put, achieving a new European best on six occasions. Heino Lipp's shot put record of 16.98 is a result worthy of the finals in Estonian athletics competitions even today.
On Friday, June 24, at 12 noon, a festive opening ceremony of the Heino Lipp’s bronze sculpture will take place in front of the main building of Maidla Manor. The author of the monument, sculptor Aivar Simson, will be present as well as a number of athletes that represented Estonia in the title competition, representatives of the Estonian Olympic Committee, the Estonian Athletic Association, and Lüganuse rural municipality. MTÜ Heino Lipp Fond (Non-profit Association Heino Lipp Foundation) will pay homage to supporters and partners of the sculpture created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ida-Viru County’s most famous track and field athlete. The Silver Bell brass band will ensure an appropriately ceremonial mood.
After unveiling of the statue, the high-level sports program of Heino Lipp’s Memorial Competition will begin. In cooperation with the Athletic Association, the Estonian Championships in shot put will be held for the first time as a separate sports event in Maidla to pay tribute to the sports hero born and raised in Ida-Viru County.
The women's shot put competition kicks off at 1:30 pm where alongside Estonian athletes, first place will also be chased by Fanny Roos (personal record 19.34), a Swedish athlete with Estonian roots, silver medalist of the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, the seventh woman in the Tokyo Olympics, and 17-time Swedish Champion, and Polish competitor Paulina Guba (19.38), gold medalist of the European Championships in Berlin in 2018 and 16-time Polish Shot Put Champion. The main favorite for the Estonian Champion title is Kätlin Piirimäe (personal record 16.80) representing athletics club Koigi Kergejõustikuklubi, who is the current Heino Lipp’s Memorial Competition record holder for women with 15.86.
Men's shot put, starting at 3 pm, sets exceptionally high international standards as two mighty Poles enter the circle: European Indoor Champion 2017, European Championships silver medalist 2018, and four-time Polish Champion Konrad Bukowiecki (personal record 22.25) and European Champion 2018, European Indoor Champion 2019, and nine-time Polish Champion Michal Haratyk (22.32). These men hold the third and sixth place, respectively, in this year’s current European ranking. Looking to slide onto the award podium is also former World U20 Championships silver medalist and six-time Swedish Champion Wictor Petersson whose personal best is 20.94. The expected winner of the Estonian Championship is Jander Heil from the athletics association Kergejõustikuselts Sakala whose personal record of 19 meters and 81 centimeters is waiting to be taken up a meter.
The memorial competition record (20.78) belongs to Bulgarian athlete Georgi Ivanov since 2013. In addition to Ivanov, Great Britain’s representative Carl Myerscough (won with 20.13 in 2012), Maris Urtans from Latvia (20.23 in 2015), and Estonian record holder Kristo Galeta (20.47 in 2019) have also in the Maidla competition reached beyond that twenty-meter line that serves as an indicator of high international level in shot put and taken home the victorious gold.
Spectators have good reason to come to Maidla on Midsummer Day, June 24, to see with their own eyes a trial of strength of world-class shot putters, to witness the birth of new records in the Memorial Competition, and to pay tribute to Ida-Viru County’s sports legend Heino Lipp. Kiviõli women’s folk dance group Tuhkali and percussionists’ group Põmmutajad - performers from Lüganuse rural municipality - are on-site, helping to further elevate the festive mood. The band Curly Strings helps to put in good use that adrenaline generated during the shot put competition, and SushiTiger, a beloved caterer at various events in Viru County, ensures a scrumptious culinary experience.
Admission is free for everyone.
