Athletics|The last few years of promising Finnish runner Samuel Purola, 24, have been painful.
Jyväskylä
Samuel Purola24, knew something was wrong. The strange feeling in the body had lasted for a long time, almost a day. My chest pounded for a good twenty hours without a break in an unusual way.
The young athlete contacted the doctor of the Kihu Institute of Top Sports. After this, a process began that has tested Purola. A process in front of which many might have thrown in the towel in terms of career.
Months later, the young man is doing well. He is confident and expectant about the future. Everyday is going better than ever.
“I study law at an open university, but I study as much as I can. I completely put sports first,” Purola declares.
A lot of changes have taken place in Purola’s life in a short time. The old familiar Oulu has changed to Jyväskylä, Toripolliisi to Harju Vesilinna and mother’s home cooking to homemade popperös.
It has also been windy on the sports side when his coach changed. The promise is no longer coached by one’s own father, but Petteri Jouste.
The changes have brought new stimuli and motivation to Purola. He says that he is now more motivated than ever.
The adversities are finally behind us. Now Samuel Purola is aiming for the Olympics.
Stream announced in his Instagram post in November his goal to run 200 meters at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and break the magical 20-second mark during the next Olympics. Currently, Purola’s record for 200 meters is 10:31.
The ambitious project is called “Purola 2.0”.
He still stands by his words.
“A lot of work needs to be done for that, but I definitely consider it possible.”
Mindfulness training has become part of Purola’s training program.
Purola’s common-law partner Helmi Pokela to witness his partner’s journey from the aitio place. He says that a runner will do everything he can to achieve his goal.
Certain mannerisms of the runner even amuse Pokela.
“If Samuel has the slightest hangover, he throws himself down on the floor and jumps it. He also does various running exercises in our small apartment, Pokela laughs.
He motions to his spouse’s most common route, the approximately eight-meter side between the bedroom and the kitchen.
Purola lives with her husband Helmi Pokela in Jyväskylä, where Pokela is studying.
In the same in a social publication, Purola announced that he had undergone a heart procedure. Purola suffered from a rare congenital heart dysfunction that caused serious ailments such as arrhythmias.
The runner has recovered well from the operation. He started full weight training about a week after the surgery.
”
“The smell and color have driven away those interested in them quite quickly.”
However, the first days were painful. Purola couldn’t even put on socks himself.
“I was in so much pain, and I had to be careful not to stretch the groin and not to open the wound.”
Purola’s femoral vein was punctured, that is, a hole was made in his groin, from which catheters were guided along the vein to the heart.
“Now, the second time, I got a pretty big bruise at the surgery site. It had to be followed closely. I took a picture of it in the mornings and evenings.”
Yes, another time. Purola had two operations within about a month.
The workout tastes good. Purola has set new records in tests during the winter.
In the first operation, it was found out what is wrong with Purola’s heart. In the second surgery, the problem was treated.
“From the first one, it was found out that there are some kind of electricity circulation disturbances. The procedure doctor decided that cryoablation would be the best option for my condition, which was a little less common. It was then done in another operation.”
Cryoablation would have been done already during the first operation, but the cardiologist who performed the procedure did not have the necessary equipment to perform it.
Mindfulness training has become part of Purola’s training. At the same time, it is joint relationship time for Pokela and Purola, who are preparing to become short-term therapists.
In cryoablation, the tip of the catheter freezes the heart’s wiring, where electricity does not flow optimally.
AVNRT diagnosed by Purola is not a very common heart defect. And there are also different levels. In the case of the runner, the effort was challenging.
“The nurses said that they rarely come across such a challenging situation.”
AVNRT is an arrhythmia that manifests itself as frequent heart palpitations, i.e. “palpitations”. In AVNRT, the AV node sends inappropriate contraction commands to the ventricles.
The atrioventricular node is part of the heart’s conduction system and the only point from which the wave of electrical activation that acts as a “contraction command” propagates.
Purola was also supposed to start military service in the fall, but the heart operations changed the plans.
Purola grinds all the jams to perfection. When the rigid muscles strike, he throws his butt.
He had to go to Oulu for a medical examination by the conscription board and the Defense Forces doctor, after which it was decided to postpone his military service for a year.
Uncertainty was constantly present.
“I couldn’t plan anything for the long term when I didn’t know” if I have to go to the hospital after the procedures or not.
Repetitive after the adversities, Pokela has noticed the change in her spouse from a close distance.
“You can feel the relief from Samuel now. I don’t think he would have been able to play sports with that heart for long,” Pokela sighs.
The heart operation worried the loved ones, but Pokela understood that the procedure was necessary. Everything seems bright now.
“We are relieved when it has proven that the procedure helped.”
The runner has changed not only the location and the training, but also his diet in pursuit of his Olympic dream. In Oulu, he lived on his parents’ home cooking, in Jyväskylä he cooks himself. Purola strives to optimize recovery and development also in nutrition.
“He eats so healthy that I can’t eat his food. Samuel’s plate always has rice, vegetables and chicken without any flavoring sauces,” laughs Pokela.
Purola 2.0 – a project that the runner from Oulu is doing everything to achieve.
Purola starts his morning with a drink that contains superfoods. Superfoods include many berries, rye, spinach, chlorella and maca root.
“The smell and color of the drinks have driven away those interested in them quite quickly”, smiles Purola.
According to him, the spouse started to feel sick after smelling the drink.
However, one thing is certain: Purola, who plays sports with a healthy heart, is serious.