Finland_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics

Finland at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Finland at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Sporting event delegation


Finland competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Finnish athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games since the nation's official debut in 1908.

Quick Facts Finland at the 2016 Summer Olympics, IOC code ...

The Finnish Olympic Committee (Finnish: Suomen Olympiakomitea, SO) sent a team of 54 athletes, 26 men and 28 women, to compete in 15 sports at the Games.[2][3] The nation's full roster also achieved a historic milestone, as the number of female athletes outnumbered the men for the first time. Among the sports represented by its athletes, Finland made its Olympic debut in golf (new to the 2016 Games), table tennis, and women's wrestling, as well as its return to archery, boxing, equestrian eventing, and rhythmic gymnastics after long years of absence.

The Finnish team featured four past Olympic medalists returning to the Games: Beijing 2008 women's trap champion Satu Mäkelä-Nummela, the oldest competitor of the roster (aged 43), javelin throwers Tero Pitkämäki and Antti Ruuskanen (both won bronze in 2008 and 2012, respectively), and windsurfer Tuuli Petäjä-Sirén (silver, 2012), who was appointed by the committee to carry the Finnish flag by a female for the second time in the opening ceremony.[1][4] Despite swimming only in the medley relay, Hanna-Maria Seppälä set a record as the first ever Finnish female athlete to participate in five consecutive Olympic Games.[5] Other notable competitors on the Finnish roster included the country's fastest freestyle swimmer Ari-Pekka Liukkonen, sailing brothers Joonas and Niklas Lindgren in the 470 class, and hammer thrower David Söderberg.[3]

Finland left Rio de Janeiro with only a bronze medal, won by boxer Mira Potkonen in the women's lightweight event,conquered on the 12th day of the Games, when virtually all athletes in the country had ended their participation.This lone medal prevented the country for the first time in the history of the Summer Games from finishing with without any medal in an edition, but it consolidated the worst performance in Finnish history at the Games.[6] Several Finnish athletes reached the finals of their respective events including Ruuskanen (sixth, javelin throw), Söderberg (eighth, hammer throw), and sailor Tuula Tenkanen (fifth, Laser Radial).

Medalists

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Archery

One Finnish archer has qualified for the men's individual recurve at the Games by securing one of three available Olympic spots at the 2016 European Championships in Nottingham, Great Britain, signifying the nation's comeback to the sport after an eight-year hiatus.[7] Meanwhile, another Finnish archer was added to the squad by virtue of a top six national finish in the women's individual recurve at the 2016 Archery World Cup meet in Antalya, Turkey.[8]

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Athletics

Anne-Mari Hyryläinen

Finnish athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):[9][10] Four of them, led by two Olympic bronze medalists Tero Pitkämäki (2008) and Antti Ruuskanen (2012) in the men's javelin throw, had been selected to the Olympic team during the initial nomination stages (October and December 2015), while the majority of the Finnish track and field team was announced at the end of March and the third week of July 2016.[11]

Key
  • Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
  • Q = Qualified for the next round
  • q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
  • NR = National record
  • N/A = Round not applicable for the event
  • Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round
Track & road events
Men
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Women
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Field events
Men
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Women
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Badminton

Finland has qualified one badminton player for the women's singles into the Olympic tournament. Nanna Vainio had claimed her Olympic spot as one of top 34 individual shuttlers in the BWF World Rankings as of 5 May 2016.[12]

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Boxing

Finland has entered one boxer to compete in the women's lightweight division into the Olympic boxing tournament, signifying the nation's comeback to the sport since 2000. Mira Potkonen had claimed her Olympic spot with a quarterfinal victory at the World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.[13]

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Cycling

Road

Finland has qualified one rider in the women's Olympic road race by virtue of a top 22 national finish in the 2016 UCI World Rankings.[14]

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Equestrian

Finland has entered one eventing rider into the Olympic equestrian competition by virtue of a top finish from North Western Europe in the individual FEI Olympic rankings, signifying the nation's Olympic comeback to the sporting discipline for the first time since 2000.[15][16]

Eventing

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Golf

Finland has entered four golfers (two per gender) into the Olympic tournament. Mikko Ilonen (world no. 235), Roope Kakko (world no. 293), Noora Tamminen (world no. 274), and Ursula Wikström (world no. 256) qualified directly among the top 60 eligible players for their respective individual events based on the IGF World Rankings as of 11 July 2016.[17][18]

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Gymnastics

Artistic

Finland has entered one artistic gymnast into the Olympic competition. Oskar Kirmes had claimed his Olympic spot in the men's apparatus and all-around events at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.[19][20]

Men
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Rhythmic

For the first time since 2000, Finland has qualified one rhythmic gymnast in the individual all-around for the Games by claiming one of eight available Olympic spots at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.[20][21]

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Judo

Finland has qualified one judoka for the men's extra-lightweight category (60 kg) at the Games. Juho Reinvall earned a continental quota spot from the European region as the highest-ranked Finnish judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016.[22][23]

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Sailing

Finnish sailors have qualified one boat in each of the following classes through the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships, the individual fleet Worlds, and European qualifying regattas.[24]

On 13 October 2015, the Finnish Olympic Committee had officially announced the first five sailors competing in the Finn, Laser Radial, men's 470, and women's RS:X at the Rio regatta.[11] 2010 Youth Olympian and Laser sailor Kaarle Tapper was named to the Finnish team on 27 April 2016, while the women's 470 and 49er crews rounded out the selection at the ISAF World Cup meet (26 April to 1 May) in Hyères, France.[20]

Men
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Women
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M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race; overstrike indicates excluded score

Shooting

Finnish shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2014 and 2015 ISSF World Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and European Championships or Games, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying standard (MQS) by 31 March 2016.[25]

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Swimming

Finnish swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):[26][27]

On 9 December 2015, the Finnish Olympic Committee had announced the first three swimmers (Liukkonen, Mattsson, and Laukkanen), who had achieved the A-cut times in their respective events, to compete in the Olympic pool, while US-based college swimmers Matias Koski and Tanja Kylliäinen joined the roster four months later.[28]

Men
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Women
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Table tennis

Finland has entered one athlete for the first time into the Olympic table tennis competition. Benedek Oláh granted an invitation from ITTF to compete in the men's singles as one of the next seven highest-ranked eligible players, not yet qualified, on the Olympic Ranking List.[29]

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Taekwondo

Finland entered one athlete into the taekwondo competition at the Olympics. 2012 Olympian Suvi Mikkonen secured a spot in the women's lightweight category (57 kg) by virtue of her top two finish at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey.[30][31]

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Weightlifting

Finland has qualified one male weightlifter for the Rio Olympics by virtue of a top seven national finish at the 2016 European Championships.[20][32] Meanwhile, an unused women's Olympic spot was added to the Finnish weightlifting team by IWF, as a response to the vacancy of women's quota places in the individual World Rankings and to the "multiple positive cases" of doping on several nations.[33] The team must allocate these places to individual athletes by 20 June 2016.

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Wrestling

Finland has qualified three wrestlers for each of the following weight classes into the Olympic tournament. Two of them finished among the top six to book an Olympic spot each in the men's Greco-Roman 85 kg and women's freestyle 58 kg the 2015 World Championships.[34][35]

One more wrestler had claimed the remaining Olympic slot in the men's Greco-Roman 66 kg to round out the Finnish roster at the initial meet of the World Qualification Tournament in Ulaanbaatar.[36]

Key:

  • VT – Victory by Fall.
  • PP – Decision by Points – the loser with technical points.
  • PO – Decision by Points – the loser without technical points.
  • ST – Technical superiority – the loser without technical points and a margin of victory of at least 8 (Greco-Roman) or 10 (freestyle) points.
Men's Greco-Roman
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Women's freestyle
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See also


References

  1. Laine, Sami (2 August 2016). "Tuuli Petäjä-Sirén kantaa Suomen lippua Riossa" [Tuuli Ptäjä-Sirén will bear the Finnish flag in Rio] (in Finnish). Yle.
  2. Männikkö, Ville (18 July 2016). "Suomi lähtee Rioon monipuolisella joukkueella" [Finland's versatile team goes to Rio] (in Finnish). Turun Sanomat. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  3. "Suomen joukkue Rioon paisui 54 urheilijaan" [The Finnish team to Rio increased to 54 athletes] (in Finnish). Savon Sanomat. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  4. "Hanna-Maria Seppälästä kypsyi äidin valmennuksessa historiallinen uimari – tänään viidettä kertaa olympialaisissa" [From her mother's coaching, Hanna-Maria Seppälä transformed herself into the swimming legend, going to the Olympics for the fifth time] (in Finnish). Yle. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  5. "For Finns, the most disappointing Olympics ever". Yle. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  6. "iaaf.org – Top Lists". IAAF. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  7. "Kahdeksan urheilijaa nimettiin Rion olympiajoukkueesee" [Eight athletes have been named for the Rio Olympics] (in Finnish). Finnish Olympic Committee. 13 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  8. Sukumar, Dev (5 May 2016). "Provisional List of Olympic Qualifiers Published". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  9. Partanen, Minttu-Maaria (20 January 2016). "Sisukas tamma auttoi kenttäratsastaja Elmo Jankarin kiinni Rion olympiapaikkaan" [Strong field helped Elmo Jankari and his horse earned a place for the Rio Olympics] (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  10. "Olympic Rankings – Men". International Golf Federation. 11 July 2016. Archived from the original on 24 August 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  11. "Olympic Rankings – Women". International Golf Federation. 11 July 2016. Archived from the original on 20 July 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  12. "Kuusi urheilijaa nimettiin Rion olympiajoukkueeseenjoukkueesee" [Six athletes named to the Olympic team] (in Finnish). Finnish Olympic Committee. 27 April 2016. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  13. "Judossa uusia Suomen mestareita – Emilia Kanerva pysyi kultakannassa" [New Finnish judo champions – Emilia Kanerva defends her title] (in Finnish). Yle. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  14. "Rio 2016 Olympic Laser Spots Snapped Up At Santander 2014 ISAF Worlds". ISAF. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  15. "Quota Places by Nation and Number". www.issf-sports.org/. ISSF. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  16. "Swimming World Rankings". FINA. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  17. "Rio 2016 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Rio 2016. FINA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  18. "Seitsemän urheilijaa nimettiin Rion olympiajoukkueeseen" [Seven more athletes have been named to the Rio Olympic team] (in Finnish). Finnish Olympic Committee. 9 December 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  19. "Olah skrev historia – säkrade OS-plats" [Olah has made history, secured Olympic place] (in Finnish). Yle. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  20. "Suvi Mikkonen otteli olympiapaikan taekwondossa" [Suvi Mikkonen fights for the Olympic place in taekwondo] (in Finnish). Finnish Olympic Committee. 18 January 2016. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  21. "Wrestling for Rio 2016". United World Wrestling. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  22. "Painiruletti pyörähtää Las Vegasissa" [Wrestlers spin in Las Vegas] (in Finnish). Ilkka. 7 September 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  23. May, William (22 April 2016). "Uzbekistan, Sweden Double Up in Bronze Medal Playoffs at 1st World OG Qualifier". United World Wrestling. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.

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