Juha Mieto

Summary

Juha Iisakki Mieto (born 20 November 1949) is a Finnish former cross-country skier, who was born in Kurikka. He competed in the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics and won five medals, including a gold medal in the 4 × 10 km relay in 1976. He also placed fourth three times, losing the 15 km bronze medal in 1972 by 0.06 seconds. He finished second in this event in 1980 in the closest-ever margin of victory in Olympic cross-country skiing, 0.01 seconds, which led the International Ski Federation (FIS) to round all of their times to the nearest 1/10 second in future competitions.[1] Mieto was selected as the Finnish flag bearer at the 1972 Winter Olympics.[2]

Juha Mieto
Juha Mieto in February 2019
Country Finland
Born (1949-11-20) 20 November 1949 (age 74)
Kurikka, Finland
Ski clubKurikan Ryhti
World Cup career
Seasons3 – (19821984)
Starts11
Podiums1
Wins0
Overall titles0 – (18th in 1984)
Medal record
Men's cross-country skiing
Representing  Finland
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1976 Innsbruck 4 × 10 km relay
Silver medal – second place 1980 Lake Placid 15 km
Silver medal – second place 1980 Lake Placid 50 km
Bronze medal – third place 1980 Lake Placid 4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1984 Sarajevo 4 × 10 km relay
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1974 Falun 30 km
Silver medal – second place 1978 Lahti 4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1978 Lahti 15 km
Bronze medal – third place 1982 Oslo 4 × 10 km relay

Mieto won four medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, with silvers in the 30 km (1974) and the 4 × 10 km relay (1978), and bronzes in the 15 km (1978) and the 4 × 10 km relay (1982, tied with East Germany). His biggest success as a cross-country skier was at the Holmenkollen ski festival where he won the 50 km once (1973) and the 15 km five times (1973–1975, 1977–1978). He received the Holmenkollen medal in 1974.[1]

After retiring from competitions in 1984 Mieto worked in public relations for several organizations, including Nordea Bank, Kuortane Sports Resort and World Vision. In the 2007 Finnish parliament elections he was a Centre Party candidate in Vaasa constituency. He was elected with 13,768 votes, which was the seventh best result in Finland that year.[1]

Cross-country skiing results edit

 
Mieto at the 1978 Holmenkollen Ski Festival, in Oslo, Norway

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[3]

Olympic Games edit

  • 5 medals – (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
 Year   Age   15 km   30 km   50 km   4 × 10 km 
 relay 
1972 22 4 5
1976 26 10 4 34 Gold
1980 30 Silver 7 Silver Bronze
1984 34 4 8 10 Bronze

World Championships edit

  • 4 medals – (2 silver, 2 bronze)
 Year   Age   15 km   30 km   50 km   4 × 10 km 
 relay 
1974 24 4 Silver 4
1978 28 Bronze 7 44 Silver
1982 32 6 5 Bronze

World Cup edit

Season standings edit

 Season   Age  Overall
1982 32 26
1983 33 28
1984 34 18

Individual podiums edit

  • 1 podium
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
1  1982–83  10 February 1983   Igman, Yugoslavia 15 km Individual World Cup 2nd

Team podiums edit

  • 2 podiums
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammates
1  1981–82  25 February 1982   Oslo, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay World Championships[1] 3rd Härkönen / Karvonen / Kirvesniemi
2  1983–84  16 February 1984   Sarajevo, Yugoslavia 4 × 10 km Relay Olympic Games[1] 3rd Ristanen / Kirvesniemi / Karvonen

Note: 1 Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Juha Mieto". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  2. ^ Finland. sports-reference.com
  3. ^ "Athlete : MIETO Juha". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 24 April 2018.

External links edit

  •   Media related to Juha Mieto at Wikimedia Commons
  • Juha Mieto at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
  • Holmenkollen medalists – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)
  • Holmenkollen winners since 1892 – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)
  • Official home page (in Finnish)