Combined skier Minja Korhonen was chosen as the European young athlete of the year.
Kamilla Rajander,
Only Paloniemi
Minja from Korhose on Thursday became the first Finn in history to be chosen as European Young Athlete of the Year. The prize was awarded at the annual meeting of the heads of the European Olympic Committees in Bucharest, Romania.
– Above all, great feelings. Maybe it belongs to that category of those awards and achievements that I didn’t know how to expect, the 17-year-old athlete commented on Friday.
The Piotr Nurowski Award is awarded annually to an athlete who has not only been successful in his sport, but has also promoted Olympic values. In addition to Pyst, Korhonen received 15,000 euros in prize money.
All European countries were allowed to send their own candidates for the award. Through preliminary voting, the five best were selected and invited to Bucharest. There, each of the top five got to give a speech, after which representatives of the European Olympic Committees voted for the winner.
In his speech, Korhonen took a stand on the position and status of women’s combined as an Olympic sport. At the 2026 Olympics in Milan–Cortina, there will be no female athletes in the combined event. There is currently a discussion about the sport’s situation in the 2030 Winter Olympics.
– It was perhaps a small risky bet that we would take a political stand on the women’s combined Olympic status, and the risk was worth taking. The jury said that the victory was decided with the help of the speech.
Korhonen thinks it’s great that he was able to take an important message to the decision-makers.
– This was certainly a good push, at least in a better direction, that it was heard by the Olympic crowd. And then there was something like this for our species. It will certainly bring positive visibility and improve our chances of getting to the Olympics.
Made a splash
CEO of the Finnish Olympic Committee Taina Susiluoto describes Korho as “a good sports diplomat”.
– She brought out herself and her strengths in a really great, positive and constructive way, but also the team spirit that the Finnish women’s combined team has. And also took a stand on the fact that, in his opinion, women should equally qualify for the Olympics in this sport in the future. Yes, he did a good job of influencing, and as a Finn you can be really proud of him, praises Susiluoto, reached from Bucharest.
The initiative to take a stand came from the athlete himself. He also wrote his speech himself.
Susuluoto reminds that there are many more sports available for the Olympics than places, so the competition is fierce. For example, keeping men’s combined as an Olympic sport for the next games required a lot of influence work. There is still a lot of work to be done to get women’s combined into the 2030 competitions.
– If this is reached in time, Minja can take the hat in her hat. Yes, there was a discussion about it, and we were also contacted about it. Yes, he made a noise in the room.