Esko Olavi Mikkola (born 14 February 1975 in Tampere) is a Finnish javelin thrower.
Competing for the Arizona Wildcats track and field team, Mikkola won two NCAA DI javelin titles.[1] [2]
He won a silver medal at the 2003 Summer Universiade in Daegu and finished eleventh at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. He then competed at the 2005 World Championships without reaching the final.
His personal best throw is 84.27 metres, achieved in July 2004 in Nokia.
Javelin throwing is not Mikkola's only claim to fame. His first sport was wrestling, which he did for ten years or more and is now exploring the sport of bobsledding.
Esko was a research assistant at The University of Arizona, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and has published numerous papers in the fields of prognostic cells and radiation effects. As of spring 2008, Mikkola has completed his Ph.D. and has returned to Finland for the summer to concentrate on training for the 2008 Olympics.
Currently, he works as the CEO for the company Alphacore that he founded, located in Phoenix, Arizona. He has received U.S. citizenship.[3]
| Representing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Palma de Mallorca, Spain | 8th | 75.30 m | ||
| 2003 | Daegu, South Korea | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | 75.82 m | |
| 2004 | Athens, Greece | 11th | 79.43 m | ||
| 2005 | Helsinki, Finland | 21st (q) | 72.54 m | ||