Finland at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Summary

Finland competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The nation has competed at every Summer Olympic Games since its official debut in 1908. The Finnish Olympic Committee (Finnish: Suomen Olympiakomitea, SO) sent a total of 56 athletes to the Games, 29 men and 27 women, to compete in 14 sports. There was only a single competitor in artistic gymnastics, taekwondo, weightlifting and tennis.

Finland at the
2012 Summer Olympics
IOC codeFIN
NOCFinnish Olympic Committee
Websitesport.fi/olympiakomitea (in Finnish and Swedish)
in London
Competitors56 in 14 sports
Flag bearers Hanna-Maria Seppälä (opening)
Antti Ruuskanen (closing)
Medals
Ranked 60th
Gold
0
Silver
2
Bronze
1
Total
3
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Notable Finnish athletes included the defending champion Satu Mäkelä-Nummela in women's trap shooting, and Olympic bronze medalist Tero Pitkämäki in men's javelin throw. Badminton player Anu Nieminen, and swimmer Hanna-Maria Seppälä, who finished fourth in the women's freestyle event, made their fourth Olympic appearance as the most experienced athletes. Seppälä also became Finland's first female flag bearer at the Summer Olympics' opening ceremony (in the Winter Olympics, Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi had carried the Finnish flag in 1994).

Suomen Olympiakomitea (SO) set a goal of three medals, with at least one gold medal and six point positions in eighth-place finish, to be targeted in the medal standings.[1] At the end of the Games, Finland already had three medals, but reached beyond the medal target by a single point.

Finland, however, left London with two silvers and one bronze medal in sailing and athletics, failing to win a gold medal for the second time in Summer Olympic history since 2004. Antti Ruuskanen only received his silver medal in 2017, due to doping by the original silver medalist Oleksandr Pyatnytsya from Ukraine. Several Finnish athletes who reached finals missed out on the medal standings including Pitkämäki, and taekwondo jin Suvi Mikkonen.

Medalists edit

Medals by sport
Sport       Total
Sailing 0 1 1 2
Athletics 0 1 0 1
Total 0 2 1 3
Medal Name Sport Event Date
  Silver Tuuli Petäjä Sailing Women's sailboard 7 August
  Silver Antti Ruuskanen Athletics Men's javelin throw 11 August
  Bronze Silja Kanerva
Silja Lehtinen
Mikaela Wulff
Sailing Elliott 6m 11 August

Athletics edit

Finnish athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard):[2][3]

Key
  • Note – Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
  • Q = Qualified for the next round
  • q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
  • NR = National record
  • N/A = Round not applicable for the event
  • Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round
 
Jussi Utriainen in men's marathon
 
Javelin throw men's medal ceremony, Antti Ruuskanen in second place
 
Leena Puotiniemi in women's marathon
Men
Track & road events
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Jonathan Åstrand 200 m 20.73 5 Did not advance
Antti Kempas 50 km walk 4:01:50 41
Jukka Keskisalo 3000 m steeplechase 8:29.13 4 Q DNF
Jarkko Kinnunen 50 km walk 3:46:25 15
Niclas Sandells 1500 m 3:42.67 11 Did not advance
Jussi Utriainen Marathon 2:26:25 69
Field events
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Distance Position Distance Position
Jere Bergius Pole vault NM Did not advance
Ari Mannio Javelin throw 81.99 8 q 78.60 11
Tero Pitkämäki 83.01 3 Q 82.80 5
Antti Ruuskanen 81.74 11 q 84.12  
David Söderberg Hammer throw 71.76 26 Did not advance
Osku Torro High jump 2.21 =16 Did not advance
Women
Track & road events
Athlete Event Heat Final
Result Rank Result Rank
Sandra Eriksson 3000 m steeplechase 9:50.71 8 Did not advance
Anne Halkivaha 20 km walk 1:38:49 54
Leena Puotiniemi Marathon 2:42:01 87
Field events
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Distance Position Distance Position
Minna Nikkanen Pole vault 4.25 =26 Did not advance
Sanni Utriainen Javelin throw NM Did not advance

Badminton edit

Athlete Event Group Stage Elimination Quarterfinal Semifinal Final / BM
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Ville Lång Men's singles   Lee C W (MAS)
L 8–21, 21–14, 11–21
2 Did not advance
Anu Nieminen Women's singles   Montero (MEX)
W 21–12, 21–18
  Tai T-y (TPE)
L 11–21, 14–21
2 Did not advance

Canoeing edit

Sprint edit

Athlete Event Heats Semifinals Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Jenni Mikkonen Women's K-1 200 m 42.656 3 Q 41.859 4 FB 44.643 9
Anne Rikala Women's K-1 500 m 1:52.641 1 Q 1:51.852 3 FA 1:54.333 8

Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)

Cycling edit

 
Pia Sundstedt finished eleventh in women's time trial

Road edit

Athlete Event Time Rank
Jussi Veikkanen Men's road race 5:46:37 65
Pia Sundstedt Women's road race 3:35:56 20
Women's time trial 40:01.69 11

Equestrian edit

Dressage edit

Athlete Horse Event Grand Prix Grand Prix Special Grand Prix Freestyle Overall
Score Rank Score Rank Technical Artistic Score Rank
Emma Kanerva Sini Spirit Individual 70.395 29 Q 71.889 22 Did not advance
Mikaela Lindh Mas Guapo 70.729 26 Q 69.016 30 Did not advance

Gymnastics edit

Artistic edit

Women
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Apparatus Total Rank Apparatus Total Rank
F V UB BB F V UB BB
Annika Urvikko All-around 13.200 12.416 10.933 12.266 48.815 55 Did not advance

Judo edit

Athlete Event Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Repechage Final / BM
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Valtteri Jokinen Men's −60 kg Bye   Moudatir (MAR)
W 0100–0000
  Choi G-H (KOR)
L 0000–0010
Did not advance
Jaana Sundberg Women's −52 kg   Kelmendi (ALB)
L 0001–0110
Did not advance
Johanna Ylinen Women's −63 kg Bye   Tsedevsuren (MGL)
L 0000–1000
Did not advance

Sailing edit

Finland has qualified 1 boat for each of the following events

Men
Athlete Event Race Net points Final rank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 M*
Mattias Lindfors Laser 25 28 23 30 36 22 20 42 39 40 EL 263 33
Tapio Nirkko Finn 11 13 8 5 3 12 4 5 15 17 16 92 10
Joonas Lindgren
Niklas Lindgren
470 22 19 22 17 12 15 26 21 21 18 EL 167 21
Women
Athlete Event Race Net points Final rank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 M*
Tuuli Petäjä RS:X 8 7 3 4 4 4 8 2 5 1 4 46  
Sari Multala Laser Radial 4 6 15 4 19 21 3 2 16 5 20 94 7
Match racing
Athlete Event Round Robin Rank Knockouts Rank
 
AUS
 
POR
 
SWE
 
NED
 
USA
 
GBR
 
ESP
 
DEN
 
RUS
 
NZL
 
FRA
Q-final S-final Final
Silja Kanerva
Silja Lehtinen
Mikaela Wulff
Elliott 6m L W W L L L W W L W W 5 Q  
USA
W (3–1)
 
AUS
L (1–2)
 
RUS
W (3–1)
 
Open
Athlete Event Race Net points Final rank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 M*
Kalle Bask
Lauri Lehtinen
49er 19 18 4 11 6 8 2 2 1 11 3 11 19 11 2 20 129 7

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

Shooting edit

Finland has earned four quota places in shooting events;[4]

Men
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Points Rank Points Rank
Kai Jahnsson 50 m pistol 552 26 Did not advance
10 m air pistol 583 7 Q 96.1 8
Women
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Points Rank Points Rank
Satu Mäkelä-Nummela Trap 70 7 Did not advance
Mira Suhonen 10 m air pistol 377 32 Did not advance
Marjo Yli-Kiikka 50 m rifle 3 positions 578 23 Did not advance
10 m air rifle 365 16 Did not advance

Swimming edit

Finnish swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):[5][6]

Men
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Matias Koski 200 m freestyle 1:49.84 31 Did not advance
400 m freestyle 3:54.96 22 Did not advance
1500 m freestyle 15:34.80 27 Did not advance
Ari-Pekka Liukkonen 50 m freestyle 22.57 25 Did not advance
Matti Mattsson 200 m breaststroke 2:11.81 NR 17 Did not advance
Women
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Jenna Laukkanen 100 m breaststroke 1:09.92 34 Did not advance
200 m breaststroke 2:31.23 32 Did not advance
Noora Laukkanen 400 m individual medley 4:53.54 33 Did not advance
Emilia Pikkarainen 100 m butterfly 59.55 29 Did not advance
200 m butterfly 2:13.81 27 Did not advance
200 m individual medley 2:17.66 33 Did not advance
Hanna-Maria Seppälä 50 m freestyle 25.55 26 Did not advance
100 m freestyle 54.93 18 Did not advance
200 m freestyle 2:04.21 33 Did not advance

Taekwondo edit

Finland has qualified 1 athlete.

Athlete Event Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Repechage Bronze Medal Final
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Suvi Mikkonen Women's −57 kg   Diedhiou (SEN)
W 9–6
  Hou Yz (CHN)
L 2–7
Did not advance   Lopez (USA)
W 9–4
  Tseng L-C (TPE)
L 2–14
Did not advance 5

Tennis edit

 
Jarkko Nieminen witnessed his action in men's singles.
Athlete Event Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final / BM
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Jarkko Nieminen Men's singles   Devvarman (IND)
W 6–3, 6–1
  Murray (GBR)
L 2–6, 4–6
Did not advance

Weightlifting edit

Athlete Event Snatch Clean & Jerk Total Rank
Result Rank Result Rank
Miika Antti-Roiko Men's −94 kg 140 =17 180 =17 320 19

Wrestling edit

Finland has qualified two quota places.

Key
  • VT - Victory by Fall.
  • PP - Decision by Points - the loser with technical points.
  • PO - Decision by Points - the loser without technical points.
Men's Greco-Roman
Athlete Event Qualification Round of 16 Quarterfinal Semifinal Repechage 1 Repechage 2 Final / BM
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Jarkko Ala-Huikku −60 kg Bye   Belmadani (FRA)
L 0–3 PO
Did not advance 16
Rami Hietaniemi −84 kg Bye   Noumonvi (FRA)
L 0–3 PO
Did not advance 15

References edit

  1. ^ "Suomen joukkueen vahvuus Lontoon olympialaisissa on 56 urheilijaa". Suomen suurlähetystö, Lontoo. 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
  2. ^ "iaaf.org – Top Lists". IAAF. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  3. ^ IAAF Games of the XXX Olympiad – London 2012 ENTRY STANDARDS (PDF), IAAF, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 April 2011, retrieved 27 September 2011
  4. ^ "Quota places by NATION and Name". ISSF. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  5. ^ "Swimming World Rankings". FINA. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  6. ^ FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE NATATION – Swimming (PDF), FINA, archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011, retrieved 27 September 2011