Finland at the 2008 Summer Olympics explained

Noc:	FIN
Nocname:	Finnish Olympic Committee
Games:	Summer Olympics
Year:	2008
Website:
Location:	Beijing
Competitors:	58
Sports:	13
Flagbearer:	Juha Hirvi (opening) Tero Pitkämäki (closing)
Rank:	44
Gold:	1
Silver:	1
Bronze:	2
Appearances:	auto
App Begin Year:	1908
See also:	1906 Intercalated Games

Finland competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. The athletes were named in four selections: first took place on December 19, 2007, 2nd on April 16, 3rd on May 20 and 4th on July 21, 2008.

The goal of the Finnish Olympic team in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was three medals with at least one gold medal.^[1]

Shooter Juha Hirvi and dressage rider Kyra Kyrklund made Finnish olympic history by participating in their sixth Olympic Games. They shared the record with three winter Olympians: cross-country skiers Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi and Harri Kirvesniemi and ice hockey player Raimo Helminen.^[2]

Medalists

Notes

Satu Mäkelä-Nummela's victory in women's trap was Finland's first ever gold medal in shotgun events at the Olympic Games. She became the third Finnish female athlete to win gold at the Summer Olympics, after Sylvi Saimo and Heli Rantanen.
Minna Nieminen's and Sanna Stén's silver medal in lightweight double sculls is Finland's first Olympic medal in rowing since 1984, when Pertti Karppinen won the last of his three consecutive Olympic gold medals.

Archery

See main article: Archery at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Athletics

See main article: Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Event	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Janne Holmén	Marathon	2:14:44	19
Visa Hongisto	200 m	20.62	4 q	20.76	6	Did not advance
Antti Kempas	align=left rowspan=2	50 km walk	3:55:19	20
Jarkko Kinnunen	3:52:25	15
Francis Kirwa	Marathon	2:14:22	17
Mikko Lahtio	800 m	1:47.20	8	Did not advance

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
Athlete	Event	Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Tommi Evilä	Long jump	7.88	=17	Did not advance
Robert Häggblom	Shot put		—	Did not advance
Tero Järvenpää	Javelin throw	82.34	4 q	83.95	4
Olli-Pekka Karjalainen	Hammer throw	77.07	8 q	79.59	6
Frantz Kruger	Discus throw	62.48	12 q	61.98	11
Mikko Latvala	Pole vault	5.45	=22	Did not advance
Tero Pitkämäki	align=left rowspan=2	Javelin throw	82.61	3 Q	86.16
Teemu Wirkkala	79.79	10 q	83.46	5

Combined events – Decathlon

Athlete	Event	100 m				400 m					1500 m	Final	Rank
Mikko Halvari	Result	11.18	6.88	13.72	1.93	50.60	16.25	47.71		55.11	5:20.26	6486	25
Points	821	785	711	740	787	705	823	0	665	449		6486	25

Women

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
Athlete	Event	Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Mikaela Ingberg	Javelin throw	58.82	17	Did not advance
Merja Korpela	Hammer throw	66.29	30	Did not advance
Vanessa Vandy	Pole vault	4.00	=32	Did not advance

Combined events – Heptathlon

Athlete	Event				200 m			800 m	Final	Rank
Niina Kelo	Result	13.95	1.65	14.82	25.90	5.76	51.48	2:20.97	5911	23*
Points	985	795	849	806	777	889	810		5911	23*

* The athlete who finished in second place, Lyudmila Blonska of the Ukraine, tested positive for a banned substance.^[3] Both the A and the B tests were positive, therefore Blonska was stripped of her silver medal, and Kelo moved up a position.

Badminton

See main article: Badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final /
Athlete	Event	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
	Men's singles	W 21–12, 21–19	W 21–9, 21–16	L 13–21, 18–21	Did not advance
Anu Nieminen	Women's singles		L 17–21, 8–21	Did not advance

Canoeing

See main article: Canoeing at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Sprint

Athlete	Event	Heats		Semifinals		Final
Athlete	Event	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
align=left rowspan=2	Mika Hokajärvi Kalle Mikkonen	Men's K-2 500 m	1:33.785	7 QS	1:34.994	8	Did not advance
Men's K-2 1000 m	3:23.475	6 QS	3:27.018	6	Did not advance
Anne Rikala	Women's K-1 500 m	1:54.294	7 QS	1:54.025	4	Did not advance
Jenni Mikkonen Anne Rikala	Women's K-2 500 m	1:45.735	4 QS	1:44.624	2 Q	1:44.176	7

Qualification Legend: QS = Qualify to semi-final; QF = Qualify directly to final

Diving

See main article: Diving at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Equestrian

See main article: Equestrian at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Dressage

Judo

See main article: Judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Repechage 3	Final /
Athlete	Event	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Nina Koivumäki	Women's −57 kg		L 0000–0020	Did not advance		W 0001–0000	L 0000–1011	Did not advance
Johanna Ylinen	Women's −63 kg	L 0000–1011	Did not advance

Rowing

See main article: Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Women

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Sailing

See main article: Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Race											Net points	Final rank
Athlete	Event	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	M*	Net points	Final rank
Pierre Collura	Laser	25	10	18	41	23	25	20	33	DNF	CAN	EL	198	30
	470	28	22	27	~~DSQ~~	25	19	14	23	17	21	EL	196	27

Women

Athlete	Event	Race											Net points	Final rank
Athlete	Event	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	M*	Net points	Final rank
Tuuli Petäjä	RS:X	14	11	7	16	16	16	12	16	11	14	EL	117	16
Tuula Tenkanen	Laser Radial	10	16	25	21	17	20	20	9	15	CAN	EL	128	22
	Yngling	6	6	3	8	10	~~OCS~~	15	12	CAN	CAN	EL	60	11

Open

M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race; CAN = Race cancelled;

Shooting

See main article: Shooting at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
Athlete	Event	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
align=left rowspan=3	Henri Häkkinen	10 m air rifle	598	1 Q	699.4
50 m rifle prone	586	47	Did not advance
50 m rifle 3 positions	1161	28	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Juha Hirvi	50 m rifle prone	595	5 Q	698.5	7
50 m rifle 3 positions	1168	12	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2		10 m air pistol	574	30	Did not advance
50 m pistol	553	22	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
Athlete	Event	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
align=left rowspan=2	Hanna Etula	50 m rifle 3 positions	577	24	Did not advance
10 m air rifle	394	21	Did not advance
Marjut Heinonen	Skeet	61	17	Did not advance
Mira Nevansuu	10 m air pistol	384	8 Q	480.5	7
Satu Mäkelä-Nummela	Trap	70	2 Q	91
align=left rowspan=2	Marjo Yli-Kiikka	50 m rifle 3 positions	579	14	Did not advance
10 m air rifle	389	38	Did not advance

Swimming

See main article: Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Event	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
align=left rowspan=2	Matti Rajakylä	50 m freestyle	22.48 NR	29	Did not advance
100 m freestyle	49.91	41	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Event	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Noora Laukkanen	200 m breaststroke	2:38.97	39	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Eva Lehtonen	400 m freestyle	4:20.07	35	Did not advance
800 m freestyle	8:53.50	33	Did not advance
Emilia Pikkarainen	100 m butterfly	1:02.31	46	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=3	Hanna-Maria Seppälä	50 m freestyle	25.06	15 Q	25.19	16	Did not advance
100 m freestyle	53.60 NR	1 Q	53.84	=3 Q	53.97	4
100 m backstroke	1:02.39	30	Did not advance

Tennis

See main article: Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men

Weightlifting

See main article: Weightlifting at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Wrestling

See main article: Wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men's Greco-Roman

External links

Finnish Team for Beijing 2008

Notes and References

Web site: Almost all of the members of the Finnish Olympic team nominated - Suomen Olympiakomitea . 2008-08-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080817130708/http://www.noc.fi/in_english/?x126=1035599 . 2008-08-17 . dead .
Web site: Shooter Juha Hirvi is the Finnish flag bearer in the opening ceremony in Beijing - Suomen Olympiakomitea . 2008-08-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080817131113/http://www.noc.fi/in_english/?x126=1069450 . 2008-08-17 . dead .
Web site: Blonska thrown out of long jump . 2008-08-21 . . 2008-08-21 .