Executive Director Hämäläinen has openly told the Trust Board of the Ski Federation that he is applying for Kihu’s position in Jyväskylä. The CEO will be elected at the beginning of June.
The Jyväskylä-based elite sports research center Kihu is looking for a new and innovative director after the director of the institute since 2018 Aki Salon a termination agreement was made with some time ago. The position will be filled at the beginning of June, and the application period expired earlier in May.
According to Urheilu’s information, he has joined the ranks of the absolute top candidates Ismo Hämäläinen, the Executive Director of the Ski Federation who turns 58 next week. The chairman of the board of Kihu, who is in charge of the application process Tapio Korjus did not agree to comment on the names of the applicants, but the chairman of the Ski Association Markku Haapasalmi admit the matter:
– It has been agreed with Ismo that there is no need to hide. He has been open about the situation to the trust management and would be very competent in that job as well. As CEO, I have only positive things to say about him. This would be a loss.
The chairman stated that the Ski Association will start the search for a new executive director only if Hämäläinen becomes the executive director of Kihu. The leadership vacancy after Aki Salo is now filled by acting manager Ville Vesterinen.
New criteria
Until now, Kihu’s leaders have been chosen largely by scientific methods; only doctors are considered to apply. This time in the application notice the job was also opened to those with a master’s degree, such as Hämäläinen, who has a master’s degree in exercise science. In addition, the title was changed to CEO, which emphasizes the commercial nature of the job description.
Kihu has suffered from financial problems, when state aid does not increase and the flow of money from the direction of the Olympic Committee has decreased after the competence program cooperation ended. As Tapio Korjus commented, the new managing director is expected to find market-based money for the projects Ilta-Sanom.
Hämäläinen joined the Ski Federation from the position of director of the training center of the Vierumäki sports college in 2019 Mika Kulmalan successor. He worked 2002-2006 in the coaching of the Ski Association’s A national teams, but moved to Germany for a few years after getting of Magnar Dalen chasing silver in Finland’s spring 2006 head coach search.
On a personal level, Hämäläinen, who also worked as a sports coach in the Sports Association, has coached e.g. hurdler Jukka Keskisaloa and a skier Aino-Kaisa from Saari. In Kihu’s leadership game, his positions are enhanced by a deep understanding of exercise biology and coaching processes, and on the other hand, operating in the commercial world as the executive director of the Ski Association.