Lotta Harala
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 March 1992 |
| Sport | |
| Country | Finland |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | 100 m hurdles, 60 m hurdles |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 60m hurdles: 8.00 (Tampere, 2023) 100m hurdles: 12.65 (La Chaux-de-Fonds, 2024)NR |
Lotta Harala OLY (born 26 March 1992) is a Finnish hurdler. In 2017, she became Finnish national champion in the 100m hurdles.
Career
She finished fourth in the 100 metres hurdles at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics in Bressanone at the age of 17 years-old.[1]
She competed in the 60m hurdles at the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade.[2] She won the Finnish national 100m hurdles title in July 2017.[3]
Harala lowered her personal best to 13.07 seconds for the 100m hurdles in August 2020 in Espoo.[4]
She competed at the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul.[5] She lowered her personal best to 12.85 seconds in Switzerland in July 2023.[6] She competed at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.[7]
She competed at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome where she reached the semi-finals.[8]
Doping violation
In January 2021, Harala was suspended for three months for a doping violation. A sample given on August 5, 2020 in Espoo contained 5-methylhexan-2-amine (1,4-dimethylpentylamine), classified as a stimulant. She claimed the violation was unintentional and that she had ingested a prohibited substance from a creatine dietary supplement whose product description did not mention the substance and may have had a contaminated production line and had temporarily used her boyfriend's creatine when her stocks ran out during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her suspension started in October 2020 and the three-month sentence had been served by January 12, 2021.[9][10] Her coach Matti Liimatainen departed from her support team after the finding.[11]
Personal life
She is from Tampere.[12] She has spoken about suffering from disordered eating after her teenage breakthrough in athletics.[1] She has discussed receiving personal and abusive messages on social media.[13][14]
Her relationship with Matias Myttynen, an ice hockey player, has been followed by TV5's reality television series Lätkä Love. Her Fitness Diary 2021 was included in a television program on the Discovery+ streaming service.[15]
References
- ^ a b "Hurdle runner Lotta Harala about her eating disorder: "I dreaded the next meal"". fit.fi. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Lotta Harala does not let back pain discourage her". yleisureheilu.fi. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Hurdle runner and Finnish champion 2017 Lotta Harala!". Tempodent. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "The Finnish Sports Ethics Center is investigating Lotta Harala's doping case - it is suspected that she violated her ban". eas.fi. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "European Athletics Indoor Championships". World Athletics. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Did Lotta Harala become the EC medal favorite in one shot? The expert opens up about how hard the performance was seen in Espoo". yle.fi. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Reetta Hurske slammed the slander - "What are two assholes doing in the bush?"". is.fi. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "European Athletics Championships". World Athletics. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "What substance was found in Lotta Harala's doping sample? The expert answers questions about the stimulant, which can be secretly found in supplements". yle.fi. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Lotta Harala opens up about the doping nightmare that cost her tens and tens of thousands of euros - in the end, her mind and body also broke down". is.fi. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Lotta Harala, who gave a positive doping sample, violated her suspension - survived without a new punishment". yle.fi. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Lotta Harala amazes: "I never thought I would say this out loud"". iltehti. 14 May 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Lotta Harala's body was criticized on social media - then the entire mailbox exploded: "Very sick"". is.fi. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Kristiina Mäkelä joined Instagram and was shocked - now athletes are sharing their horror experiences on social media: "Balancing on a knife edge"". is.fi. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ Roine, Julia (4 August 2022). "Doping suspect Lotta Harala suffered from exhaustion - Day to day survival!". Seiska.fi. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
