In addition to Kalle Koljonen, three sailors were also selected for the Finnish Olympic team today.
16:41•Updated 16:44
The board of the Finnish Olympic Committee has confirmed the Olympic selections made by the elite sports unit for the Paris Olympics. Badminton was chosen Kalle Koljonen as the actual representative and Joakim Oldorff as deputy representative.
In the fourth selection, sailors were also selected for the Finnish team Ronja Grönblom and Veera Hokka (49er FX) as well Jakob Eklund (iQFOil).
In badminton, a selection dispute arose when Finland had two eligible athletes, but only one country. Koljonen was higher in the Olympic ranking, but Oldorff was in the semi-finals at the European Championships.
The leader of the Finnish Olympic team Leena Paavolainen says that no significant difference was found between the badminton players based on the selection criteria.
– It is a positive problem that in certain sports we have more eligible athletes than competition places. We made a comprehensive result comparison between players. Koljonen and Oldorff were practically equally strong in terms of the screens according to the selection criteria, says Paavolainen.
Paavolainen justifies Koljonen’s choice with a better Olympic ranking and the presentation of the Finnish Badminton Association.
– The International Badminton Federation first offered Koljosen a place based on the Olympic ranking. The Olympic ranking measures the players’ level over a year’s timeline, so we considered that by placing higher in the ranking, Koljonen has earned a place according to the qualification system defined by the International Badminton Federation. We also asked the Finnish Badminton Association for a presentation, and they presented Koljo.
At the time of selection, Kalle Koljonen’s world ranking is 57 and Joakim Oldorff’s is 59.