KUOSMANEN Elias

General
WEIGHT CLASS CHANGE
He decided to move up from the 97kg weight class to the 130kg category in April 2021, after Arvi Savolainen won and was then chosen to take Finland's quota place in the 97kg class for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "When the road got too steep in the 97kg, it became a suitable time to switch. I had been thinking about changing in my own head for several years. I had had moderate difficulty with the weight, that kind of yo-yoing when the weight fluctuated back and forth." He went on to secure a 130kg quota place at the May 2021 World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria, when he weighed in at 108 kilograms, using his lighter build to wear down his larger opposition. "The idea was to tire the opponent with active movement. I didn't want to get into a powerlifting situation where my opponent could have got the better of me just on his size. I may put on a few more pounds before Tokyo. The weight could settle around 100 kilos, so I'd still give another 20-kilo handicap to my opponents." (hs.fi, 19 May 2021; hs.fi, 09 May 2021; iltalehti.fi, 08 May 2021; yle.fi, 18 Apr 2021)

MENTAL COACHING
He says undergoing mental coaching in 2018 helped him improve after moving up to competing full-time at senior international level. "I noticed I needed a boost. It has been helpful in the long run. Wrestling is a brutal sport in which every match is a deathmatch where you can easily face fear. What if I lose, what happens then? The fears can be moved aside. Thoughts need not be feared if you go through them before a match. A mental coach will also help you find the right state of mind based on your previous successes." (vantaansanomat.fi, 15 May 2018)

OCCUPATION
He is a non-commissioned officer in the Guard Jaeger Regiment of the Finnish Army, based at the sports school on Santahamina island in Helsinki. (hs.fi, 19 May 2021)