Mikko Salo - CrossFit pioneer

Every generation of CrossFit athletes should have their own champion and idol. Today it's Matthew Fraser. Until recently, it was Richard Fronning. And few people can go back 8-9 years and see who was a real legend, even before Dave Castro was seriously involved in the development of CrossFit. The man who, despite his very venerable age for CrossFit, for a very long time did not give the younger athletes peace of mind, is Mikko Salo.

In 2013, he shook the sporting throne of Richard Fronning. And, if not for the injury right in the middle of the competition, Mikko could have remained the leader for a long time.

Miko Salo is respected by all modern CrossFit athletes. This is a man of unbending will. He is almost 40 years old, but at the same time he not only does not stop practicing himself, but also prepared an excellent change for himself - Johnny Koski. Johnny plans to remove Matt Fraser from the podium in the next 2-3 years.

Curriculum Vitae

Mickey Salo is a native of Pori (Finland). He received the title of "Strongest Man on Earth" by winning the 2009 CrossFit Games. A series of unsuccessful injuries affected the further sports career of Salo.

It should be said that Mickey did not go completely and completely into sports. He still works as a firefighter, while training himself after work and training young athletes. One of his best students is compatriot and athlete Rogue Jonne Koski. Mikko helped him to get several victories at the Regional Games in 2014 and 2015.

First steps in sports

Miko Salo was born in 1980 in Finland. Since childhood, he showed an uncommon interest in everything difficult. However, his parents gave him to football. Young Miko played football throughout junior and high school. And he even achieved very impressive results. So, at one time he represented the famous junior clubs "Tampere United", "Lahti", "Jazz".

At the same time, Salo himself never saw himself in adult football. Therefore, when he graduated from school, his professional football career ended. Instead, the guy came to grips with his professional education. Contrary to the wishes of his parents, he entered the firefighters school. There I unlearned less than three years, having acquired all the basic skills of this difficult and dangerous profession.

Introducing CrossFit

While studying at the college, Mickey got acquainted with CrossFit. In this respect, his story is very similar to that of Bridges. So, how exactly in the fire department he was introduced to the principles of CrossFit.

CrossFit was gaining popularity in Finland, especially among the security forces. Mostly because it was a versatile sport that also allowed tight weight control. Most importantly, CrossFit developed such important features of the body as strength endurance and speed.

Despite a good start back in 2006, he had to forget about sports for some time, since the night shifts in the fire department did not allow him to establish a normal daily routine. During this time, Salo gained about 12 kg of excess weight, which he decided to fight, doing right during the night shifts. He did not manage to train every day. However, in the days when he got to the bar, the guy was just atrocious.

Mikko Salo's first successes

Exercising in the basement during the shift, the athlete gained great shape. This not only helped him on stage, but may have influenced the lives of many of the people he saved while working as a firefighter.

Mikko Salo, unlike many other athletes, came to the big crossfit arena once. And from the very first time, he was able to defeat everyone, ending the season with a devastating score for his opponents. He took first place in the Open, defeated everyone in regional competitions in Europe. And when he entered the 2009 CrossFit Games arena, his great physical condition became the defining factor in making the playing conditions much more difficult in the years that followed.

Crossfit Injuries and Leaving

Unfortunately, after finishing fifth in 2010, injuries rained down on the athlete. At the 2011 CrossFit Games, he tore his eardrum while swimming in the ocean and was forced to leave. Six months later, Mikko underwent knee surgery. This made him abandon the 2012 Games. In 2013, he finished second in his region during qualifying. Noza suffered an abdominal injury a week before the tournament. And in 2014, he came down with pneumonia during the Open. This resulted in missed assignment and disqualification.

When Salo won the Crossfit Games in 2009, he was on the verge of turning 30. In terms of modern crossfit, this is already a pretty solid age for an athlete. The situation was complicated by numerous injuries and the need to undergo long-term rehabilitation.

Mikko once said in an interview: “I am curious to know if Ben Smith, Rich Froning and Mat Fraser can stay healthy all year round at the age of 32, 33 or 34 and still show the same results as Today. I think it will be difficult. "

Return to the sports arena

Mikko Salo returned to CrossFit as a competing athlete in 2017, after a four-year hiatus from the open competition, quickly finishing ninth in the 17.1 Open.

He did not make any big statements when information about the expansion of age categories appeared in 2017. However, his student Johnny Koski recently shared information that Miko has radically changed his own approach to training in order to participate in tournaments again. Despite the fact that age makes its own adjustments to training, Mikko himself is full of optimism and is again ready to break everyone in the sports arena.

Sports achivments

Salo's sports statistics have not been impressive in recent years. However, one should not forget that this person was able to become the most prepared person on earth at his first competition in 2009.

He could repeat his success, as by the start of the 2010 season, his form was even better than other contenders for the title of the strongest man. But a series of unsuccessful and sometimes completely accidental injuries knocked him out of the preparation process for the competition for another 3 years. Of course, by the 2013 season, when he more or less recovered, the athlete was absolutely not ready to participate in the tournament. Despite this, he was able to get an honorable second place in the European regional competitions. At the same time, at the competitions themselves, he was severely injured, which did not allow him to show him a master class at the games themselves.

CrossFit Open

CrossFit Regionals

CrossFit Games

Basic statistics

Mikko Salo is a unique example of the perfect CrossFit athlete. It successfully combines high athletic weightlifting performance. At the same time, its speed remains high. If we talk about his endurance, then Mikko can really be called one of the most enduring athletes of our time. Despite his age and lack of official confirmation, there is information that he has improved all his performance by at least 15% since 2009.

As for his performance in classical complexes, it can be noted that he is not only a very strong athlete, but also very fast. Because he performs any workout movement almost one and a half times faster than his opponents. And if we consider his running performance, then he is considered the fastest runner among the representatives of the "old guard" CrossFit athletes. In comparison, the younger Fronning's running performance reaches only 20 minutes. While Mikko Salo runs this distance almost 15% faster.

Outcome

Of course, today Mikko Salo is a true CrossFit legend. He, despite all his injuries, performed on an equal footing with other younger athletes in the series of games. As for his future career and coaching, he inspired many athletes by his example, each of whom is actively engaged today and is trying to be like his idol. Mikko Salo, despite his age and injuries, did not stop training for a day.

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