A significant change has taken place in Finnish individual sports in the 2000s: Only a few athletes rise to the top of the world anymore. Even at the beginning of the millennium, there were numerous multiple Olympic winners and/or world champions in various sports in Finland. In the last 12 years, this has happened only in a few individual cases.
Together with a statistician Timo Mannonen The individual sport analysis carried out with The sources of the analysis have been the results of the sports and sports culture center Tahdo and the Institute of Elite Sports Kihu’s success monitoring, the websites of national and international sports federations and the IOC.
– In addition, there are sports where previous abundant success has changed to a much smaller number of medals, says Timo Mannonen.
In some sports, success will still come at the European Championship level, but in the global competition it is starting to be difficult to achieve even the highest points. In the new sports, Finnish athletes can still manage somehow, before the competition gets tougher and the status of the sports becomes established, especially in the Olympic family.
– For example, there will be medals in shooting, but mostly from non-Olympic sports. The same applies to rowing, for example.
In his spare time, Timo Mannonen does sports-related statistics. Among other things, he has carried out license surveys for the Finnish Basketball Association and a survey of the player paths of national team and major league players born in 1986 and after. He has also reviewed open license data on the development of volleyball, floorball and soccer license numbers, as well as the Olympic Committee’s and sports federations’ use of money.
Almost total collapse after 2010
Finland still had the world’s best athletes in many sports at the beginning of the 2000s, such as Minna Kauppi, Sampa Lajunen, Hannu Manninen and Virpi Kuitunen. In addition, for example Tanja Poutiainen won the alpine skiing world cup three times and Sari Multala sailed to three world championships.
The decline of the level in athletics, for example, is proven by the fact that in the 2000s Finland has won 10 medals in global prestigious competitions, including two golds. In the last 10 years, there have been only two medals, ie Tero Pitkämäki and Wilma Murron WC bronzes.
Athletics has received 16 medals from the European Championships in the 2000s, nine of them in javelin. The women have brought four of the medals. In 2024, the only medal was by Oliver Helander bronze.
Olympic success has grown in few sports
In the years 2000-2012, there were thirty Finnish Olympic winners, world champions or world cup winners. In the years 2013–2024, only seven athletes have achieved similar success, if the successful tennis players are included Henri Kontinen and Harri Heliövaara.
If we compare Finland’s competition success between the periods 2001–2012 and 2013–2024 in the light of medals, Olympic success has increased only in cross-country skiing, boxing and swimming.
In the World Championships, there has been an increase in bowling, boxing, judo and gymnastics. There has been a decrease in 16 sport groups.
If the same analysis is done in the light of the success of the European Championships (2001-2012 and 2013-2024), only wrestling, judo, speed skating and badminton have increased their number of medals.
It’s a long time since I won the medal in the hill jumping competition
In Nordic skiing (Olympic and World Championships), Finland has at best been second in medal statistics (2002 and 2007). In the 2023 World Cup, the ranking was ninth. In the same World Championships, Finland was also left without a personal medal. The last overall winner of the World Cup was Anssi Koivuranta in 2009.
In the combined, the only prize medal in the last 15 years is Ilkka Herolan World Cup silver in 2021.
In hill jumping, there have been no competition medals since 2007, and the last medal in alpine skiing is from 2009.
There has been success in biathlon in the 2010s Kaisa Mäkäräinen in reserve. In snowboarding, Finland has won four Olympic and 25 World Cup medals in the 2000s, but the last five competitions have produced only two medals. In freestyle, since the beginning of the 2000s, in the last 15 years, only two prestigious medals have been achieved.
In figure skating, Finland has won one World Championship bronze medal in the 2000s (Laura Lepistö 2010) and 10 EC medals, but in the last ten years there have been only two EC bronze medals. In speed skating, the 2000s have produced four World Cup medals, the latest of which is from 2013.
In swimming, during the 2000s, Finland has won four Olympic and World Cup medals, as well as 21 medals from the European Long Course Championships.
Orienteering produced medals
Wrestlers have achieved seven World Cup or Olympic medals in the 2000s, of which Marko Yli-Hannuksela four and Petra Olli two. The latest World Cup medal is from 2011.
In boxing Mira Potkonen has achieved two Olympic and World Championship bronzes, two European Championship golds and one silver. The men’s latest World Cup medal is Joni Turunen bronze from 2001.
In shooting sports, Finland received four Olympic medals (1-2-1) in the years 2000-2008. No medals have come since then. In the 2000s, there have been only three matches worthy of World Championship medals in Olympic sports, and there have only been four European Championship medals in the last 12 years.
In sailing, Finland achieved three Olympic medals (1-1-1) in 2000-2012. No medals have come since then. In the last 12 years, only two World Cup medals have been achieved in the Olympic categories, while in the years 2000-2012 there were no less than ten medals.
Orienteering has brought no less than 55 medals to Finland in the 2000s, 45 of which fall between 2001 and 2013. The most recent world championship is from 2013.
In tennis Jarkko Nieminen it’s been a while since the years, but the Davis Cup semi-final spot 2023 and Henri Kontinen and Harri Heliövaaran doubles success have kept the sport in the global competition.
In judo, prestigious competition medals have exceptionally only come in the 2020s: Martti Puumalainen European Championship gold 2023 and Luukas Sahan WC bronze 2024.