Finland at the 1972 Summer Olympics explained

Noc:	FIN
Nocname:	Finnish Olympic Committee
Games:	Summer Olympics
Year:	1972
Website:
Location:	Munich, West Germany
Date:	August 26-September 10, 1972
Competitors:	96 (89 men and 7 women)
Sports:	16
Flagbearer:	Ilkka Nummisto
Rank:	14
Gold:	3
Silver:	1
Bronze:	4
Appearances:	auto
App Begin Year:	1908
See also:	1906 Intercalated Games

Finland competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 96 competitors, 89 men and 7 women, took part in 75 events in 16 sports.^[1]

Medalists

Finland finished in 14th position in the final medal rankings, with three gold medals and eight medals overall.

Gold

• Pekka Vasala - Athletics, Men's 1,500m
• Lasse Virén - Athletics, Men's 5,000m
• Lasse Virén - Athletics, Men's 10,000m

Silver

• Reima Virtanen - Boxing, Men's Middleweight

Bronze

• Tapio Kantanen - Athletics, Men's 3,000m Steeplechase
• Kyösti Laasonen - Archery, Men's Individual Competition
• Risto Hurme, Veikko Salminen, and Martti Ketelä - Modern Pentathlon, Men's Team Competition
• Risto Björlin - Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Bantamweight

Archery

See main article: Archery at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, Finland entered three men. They won a bronze medal.

Men's Individual Competition:

• Kyösti Laasonen - 2467 points (→ Bronze Medal)
• Olavi Laurila - 2372 points (→ 20th place)
• Jorma Sandelin - 2278 points (→ 40th place)

Athletics

See main article: Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Men's 100 metres

• Antti Rajamäki
  • First Heat - 10.52s (→ did not advance)
• Raimo Vilen
  • First Heat - 11.00s (→ did not advance)

Men's 1500 metres

• Pekka Vasala
  • Heat - 3:40.9
  • Semifinals - 3:37.9
  • Final - 3:36.3 (→ Gold Medal)
• Pekka Päivärinta
  • Heat - 3:40.9
  • Semifinals - 3:45.1 (→ did not advance)

Men's 5000 metres

• Tapio Kantanen
  • Heat - 13:42.0 (→ did not advance)

Men's 4 × 100 m Relay

• Antti Rajamäki, Raimo Vilen, Erik Gustafsson, and Markku Juhola
  • Heat - 39.54s
  • Semifinals - 39.30s (NR) (→ did not advance)

Boxing

See main article: Boxing at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Men's Light Middleweight ( - 71 kg)

• Mikko Saarinen
  • First Round - Bye
  • Second Round - Defeated David Attan (KEN), TKO-2
  • Third Round - Lost to Peter Tiepold (GDR), 0:5

Canoeing

See main article: Canoeing at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Cycling

See main article: Cycling at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Six cyclists represented Finland in 1972.

Individual road race

• Harry Hannus - did not finish (→ no ranking)
• Mauno Uusivirta - did not finish (→ no ranking)
• Tapani Vuorenhela - did not finish (→ no ranking)
• Ole Wackström - did not finish (→ no ranking)

Team time trial

• Kalevi Eskelinen
• Harry Hannus
• Mauno Uusivirta
• Ole Wackström

Team individual pursuit

• Raimo Suikkanen

Diving

See main article: Diving at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Men's 3m Springboard:

• Pentti Koskinen - 336.99 points (15th place)

Women's 3m Springboard:

• Laura Kivelä - 236.25 points (24th place)

Women's 10m Platform:

• Laura Kivelä - 172.65 points (22nd place)

Fencing

See main article: Fencing at the 1972 Summer Olympics. One fencer represented Finland in 1972.

Men's épée

• Risto Hurme

Gymnastics

See main article: Gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Judo

See main article: Judo at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Modern pentathlon

See main article: Modern pentathlon at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Three male pentathletes represented Finland in 1972, with them winning bronze in the team event.

Men's Individual Competition:

• Risto Hurme - 5094 points (→ 8th place)
• Veikko Salminen - 4852 points (→ 17th place)
• Martti Ketelä - 4849 points (→ 19th place)

Men's Team Competition:

• Hurme, Salminen, and Ketelä - 14812 points (→ Bronze Medal)

Rowing

See main article: Rowing at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Men's Coxed Pairs

• Leo Ahonen, Leif Anderson and Antero Yli-lkkelä
  • Heat - 8:06.56
  • Repechage - 8:11.89 (→ did not advance)

Sailing

See main article: Sailing at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Shooting

See main article: Shooting at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Ten male shooters represented Finland in 1972.

25 m pistol

• Immo Huhtinen
• Seppo Mäkinen

50 m pistol

• Seppo Irjala
• Immo Huhtinen

300 m rifle, three positions

• Jaakko Minkkinen
• Osmo Ala-Honkola

50 m rifle, three positions

• Esa Kervinen
• Jaakko Minkkinen

50 m rifle, prone

• Jaakko Asikainen
• Esa Kervinen

50 m running target

• Pekka Suomela
• Paavo Mikkonen

Skeet

• Ari Westergård

Swimming

See main article: Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Weightlifting

See main article: Weightlifting at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Wrestling

See main article: Wrestling at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Finland at the 1972 Munich Summer Games . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417040815/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/FIN/summer/1972/ . dead . 2020-04-17 . 2011-02-12 . sports-reference.com.