Periods of intense training for two African athletes at a Finnish javelin school have overturned the natural world order in the physically demanding and technically challenging event.
There was a shock Wednesday at the Athletics World Championships when Kenya’s Julius Yego won gold with the third longest throw of all time.
In all world championships since 1983, there has only been one non-European gold medallist, South African Marius Corbett in Athens in 1997. Otherwise, medals have remained largely the preserve of European countries.
Yego’s monster third round effort of 92.72 metres was the longest since Jan Zelezny threw 92.80 in 2001.
His efforts were followed by more African silverware when Egyptian Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed claimed second spot with 88.99m for his country’s first-ever athletics world medal.
Finland’s Tero Pitkamaki, 2007 champion and silver medallist in Moscow in 2013, was demoted to bronze (87.64m) in the most European of disciplines.
The astronomical rise of Yego, who famously honed his early technique from YouTube clips of his heroes, and El Sayed is in large part thanks to Finnish coach Petteri Piironen, who trains the African pair.
Piironen first came across Yego when a Finnish agent dealing with African athletes drew his attention to the then little-known Kenyan thrower.
And El Sayed in 2008 and Yego in 2011 earned scholarships to train at the IAAF-accredited centre in Kuortane in Finland, the country regarded as the spiritual home of the javelin.
“He has learnt good basics from YouTube and then of course you need someone to work together,” Piironen said after proudly watching his two proteges score a 1-2 podium result.
“Yego’s throwing skills are quite good. He’s not strong and he’s not such a good jumper, but when he takes the javelin, starts to run and throw, he’s one of the best.
“The basic technique and the run and rhythm are much better than some other throwers.”
Piironen added: “Last summer Yego threw some good competitions but didn’t get good results.
“His form is down to good training and staying healthy.”
Yego is gushing in praise of Piironen.
“He is a brilliant coach,” Yego said. “I still use the programme Petteri set me when I first met him. We created a good relationship and he is readily available to help me whenever I ask.”
Piironen joked that he was not yet seen as a traitor in his own country for fostering fresh foreign talent.
“So far it’s been okay!” he laughed. “Of course it’s very good to have non-Europeans reaching the top in javelin. There is a lot of talent in Africa.”
El Sayed described himself as “super crazy happy” with his silver medal showing.
“I have to say a big thank you to my coach. He is my big brother, my friend, always supporting me,” he said.
“Finland is my second country because I spend all my time travelling between Egypt and Finland.
“It’s a very good country and the people are always so nice to me.”
El Sayed’s preparations for the worlds, however, were hampered by a mother stricken by a back complaint, meaning the big Egyptian was commuting three hours to visit her in hospital in Cairo, throwing his training programme into disarray.
“I didn’t eat, I didn’t sleep properly, that’s why I didn’t do well at some competitions before the champs,” El Sayed said.
“But now she should be okay and she’s started to walk again. This medal will be a motivation and a gift for her.”
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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