Finland at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Finland competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Finnish athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games since the nation's official debut in 1908.

Finland at the
2016 Summer Olympics
IOC codeFIN
NOCFinnish Olympic Committee
Websitesport.fi/olympiakomitea (in Finnish and Swedish)
in Rio de Janeiro
Competitors54 in 15 sports
Flag bearer Tuuli Petäjä-Sirén[1]
Medals
Ranked 78th
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
1
Total
1
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

The Finnish Olympic Committee (Finnish: Suomen Olympiakomitea, SO) sent a team of 54 athletes, 26 men and 28 women, to compete in 15 sports at the Games.[2][3] The nation's full roster also achieved a historic milestone, as the number of female athletes outnumbered the men for the first time. Among the sports represented by its athletes, Finland made its Olympic debut in golf (new to the 2016 Games), table tennis, and women's wrestling, as well as its return to archery, boxing, equestrian eventing, and rhythmic gymnastics after long years of absence.

The Finnish team featured four past Olympic medalists returning to the Games: Beijing 2008 women's trap champion Satu Mäkelä-Nummela, the oldest competitor of the roster (aged 43), javelin throwers Tero Pitkämäki and Antti Ruuskanen (both won bronze in 2008 and 2012, respectively), and windsurfer Tuuli Petäjä-Sirén (silver, 2012), who was appointed by the committee to carry the Finnish flag by a female for the second time in the opening ceremony.[1][4] Despite swimming only in the medley relay, Hanna-Maria Seppälä set a record as the first ever Finnish female athlete to participate in five consecutive Olympic Games.[5] Other notable competitors on the Finnish roster included the country's fastest freestyle swimmer Ari-Pekka Liukkonen, sailing brothers Joonas and Niklas Lindgren in the 470 class, and hammer thrower David Söderberg.[3]

Finland left Rio de Janeiro with only a bronze medal, won by boxer Mira Potkonen in the women's lightweight event, conquered on the 12th day of the Games, when virtually all other Finnish athletes had ended their participation. This lone medal prevented the country for the first time in the history of the Summer Games from finishing without any medal in an edition, but it consolidated the worst performance in Finnish history at the Games.[6] Several Finnish athletes reached the finals of their respective events including Ruuskanen (sixth, javelin throw), Söderberg (eighth, hammer throw), and sailor Tuula Tenkanen (fifth, Laser Radial).

Medalists

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Medal Name Sport Event Date
  Bronze Mira Potkonen Boxing Women's lightweight 17 August

Archery

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One Finnish archer has qualified for the men's individual recurve at the Games by securing one of three available Olympic spots at the 2016 European Championships in Nottingham, Great Britain, signifying the nation's comeback to the sport after an eight-year hiatus.[7] Meanwhile, another Finnish archer was added to the squad by virtue of a top six national finish in the women's individual recurve at the 2016 Archery World Cup meet in Antalya, Turkey.[8]

Athlete Event Ranking round Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final / BM
Score Seed Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Samuli Piippo Men's individual 636 54   Floto (GER)
L 0–6
Did not advance
Taru Kuoppa Women's individual 643 14   Htwe (MYA)
L 3–7
Did not advance

Athletics

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Anne-Mari Hyryläinen

Finnish athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):[9][10] Four of them, led by two Olympic bronze medalists Tero Pitkämäki (2008) and Antti Ruuskanen (2012) in the men's javelin throw, had been selected to the Olympic team during the initial nomination stages (October and December 2015), while the majority of the Finnish track and field team was announced at the end of March and the third week of July 2016.[11]

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
Track & road events
Men
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Oskari Mörö 400 m hurdles 49.04 NR 4 q 49.75 7 Did not advance
Jarkko Kinnunen 50 km walk 3:55:43 22
Aleksi Ojala DSQ
Aku Partanen DNF
Women
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Sandra Eriksson 3000 m steeplechase 9:56.77 15 Did not advance
Anne-Mari Hyryläinen Marathon 2:39:02 51
Nooralotta Neziri 100 m hurdles 12.88 3 Q 13.04 6 Did not advance
Field events
Men
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Distance Position Distance Position
Ari Mannio Javelin throw 77.73 27 Did not advance
Tero Pitkämäki 79.56 21 Did not advance
Antti Ruuskanen 82.20 11 q 83.05 6
David Söderberg Hammer throw 74.64 7 q 74.61 8
Women
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Distance Position Distance Position
Kristiina Mäkelä Triple jump 14.24 PB 5 q 13.95 12
Wilma Murto Pole vault 4.30 24 Did not advance
Minna Nikkanen 4.55 13 Did not advance
Linda Sandblom High jump 1.89 26 Did not advance
Sanni Utriainen Javelin throw 53.42 31 Did not advance

Badminton

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Finland has qualified one badminton player for the women's singles into the Olympic tournament. Nanna Vainio had claimed her Olympic spot as one of top 34 individual shuttlers in the BWF World Rankings as of 5 May 2016.[12]

Athlete Event Group Stage Elimination Quarterfinal Semifinal Final / BM
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Nanna Vainio Women's singles   Marín (ESP)
L 6–21, 4–21
  Kjærsfeldt (DEN)
L 9–21, 8–21
3 Did not advance

Boxing

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Finland has entered one boxer to compete in the women's lightweight division into the Olympic boxing tournament, signifying the nation's comeback to the sport since 2000. Mira Potkonen had claimed her Olympic spot with a quarterfinal victory at the World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.[13]

Athlete Event Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Mira Potkonen Women's lightweight   Araújo (BRA)
W 2–1
  Taylor (IRL)
W 2–1
  Yin Jh (CHN)
L 0–3
Did not advance  

Cycling

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Road

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Finland has qualified one rider in the women's Olympic road race by virtue of a top 22 national finish in the 2016 UCI World Rankings.[14]

Athlete Event Time Rank
Lotta Lepistö Women's road race Did not finish
Women's time trial 47:06.52 17

Equestrian

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Finland has entered one eventing rider into the Olympic equestrian competition by virtue of a top finish from North Western Europe in the individual FEI Olympic rankings, signifying the nation's Olympic comeback to the sporting discipline for the first time since 2000.[15][16]

Eventing

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Athlete Horse Event Dressage Cross-country Jumping Total
Qualifier Final
Penalties Rank Penalties Total Rank Penalties Total Rank Penalties Total Rank Penalties Rank
Elmo Jankari Duchess Désirée Individual 48.00 37 42.80 90.80 28 10.00 100.80 31 Did not advance 100.80 31

Golf

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Finland has entered four golfers (two per gender) into the Olympic tournament. Mikko Ilonen (world no. 235), Roope Kakko (world no. 293), Noora Tamminen (world no. 274), and Ursula Wikström (world no. 256) qualified directly among the top 60 eligible players for their respective individual events based on the IGF World Rankings as of 11 July 2016.[17][18]

Athlete Event Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Total
Score Score Score Score Score Par Rank
Mikko Ilonen Men's 73 69 66 73 281 −3 =21
Roope Kakko 72 76 68 70 286 +2 =43
Noora Tamminen Women's 73 76 72 74 295 +11 =48
Ursula Wikström 69 71 81 73 294 +10 =44

Gymnastics

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Artistic

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Finland has entered one artistic gymnast into the Olympic competition. Oskar Kirmes had claimed his Olympic spot in the men's apparatus and all-around events at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.[19][20]

Men
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Apparatus Total Rank Apparatus Total Rank
F PH R V PB HB F PH R V PB HB
Oskar Kirmes All-around 14.933 14.000 13.833 14.200 13.891 13.266 84.123 35 Did not advance

Rhythmic

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For the first time since 2000, Finland has qualified one rhythmic gymnast in the individual all-around for the Games by claiming one of eight available Olympic spots at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.[20][21]

Athlete Event Qualification Final
Hoop Ball Clubs Ribbon Total Rank Hoop Ball Clubs Ribbon Total Rank
Ekaterina Volkova Individual 16.916 16.966 17.000 16.633 67.515 21 Did not advance

Judo

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Finland has qualified one judoka for the men's extra-lightweight category (60 kg) at the Games. Juho Reinvall earned a continental quota spot from the European region as the highest-ranked Finnish judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016.[22][23]

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
Juho Reinvall Men's −60 kg Bye   Tsogtbaatar (MGL)
L 000–011
Did not advance

Sailing

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Finnish sailors have qualified one boat in each of the following classes through the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships, the individual fleet Worlds, and European qualifying regattas.[24]

On 13 October 2015, the Finnish Olympic Committee had officially announced the first five sailors competing in the Finn, Laser Radial, men's 470, and women's RS:X at the Rio regatta.[11] 2010 Youth Olympian and Laser sailor Kaarle Tapper was named to the Finnish team on 27 April 2016, while the women's 470 and 49er crews rounded out the selection at the ISAF World Cup meet (26 April to 1 May) in Hyères, France.[20]

Men
Athlete Event Race Net points Final rank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 M
Kaarle Tapper Laser 32 12 31 29 27 18 17 11 23 19 EL 187 26
Tapio Nirkko Finn 20 7 15 5 3 24 20 21 6 10 EL 107 15
Joonas Lindgren
Niklas Lindgren
470 20 11 23 18 24 19 3 10 9 10 EL 123 16
Women
Athlete Event Race Net points Final rank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 M
Tuuli Petäjä-Sirén RS:X 4 9 8 5 9 5 27 3 12 10 6 8 20 99 10
Tuula Tenkanen Laser Radial 4 16 8.6 2 14 3 13 8 2 14 18 86.6 5
Noora Ruskola
Camilla Cedercreutz
49erFX 7 12 16 13 21 15 14 15 14 10 20 18 EL 154 17

M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race; overstrike indicates excluded score

Shooting

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Finnish shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2014 and 2015 ISSF World Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and European Championships or Games, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying standard (MQS) by 31 March 2016.[25]

Athlete Event Qualification Semifinal Final
Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank
Vesa Törnroos Men's trap 116 11 Did not advance
Satu Mäkelä-Nummela Women's trap 66 10 Did not advance

Swimming

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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 potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):[26][27]

On 9 December 2015, the Finnish Olympic Committee had announced the first three swimmers (Liukkonen, Mattsson, and Laukkanen), who had achieved the A-cut times in their respective events, to compete in the Olympic pool, while US-based college swimmers Matias Koski and Tanja Kylliäinen joined the roster four months later.[28]

Men
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Matias Koski 200 m freestyle 1:47.40 21 Did not advance
400 m freestyle 3:55.57 42 Did not advance
Ari-Pekka Liukkonen 50 m freestyle 22.25 23 Did not advance
100 m freestyle 50.14 42 Did not advance
Matti Mattsson 100 m breaststroke 1:02.45 38 Did not advance
200 m breaststroke 2:10.49 11 Q 2:12.99 16 Did not advance
Women
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Mimosa Jallow 100 m backstroke 1:01.58 24 Did not advance
Jenna Laukkanen 100 m breaststroke 1:07.35 NR 18 Did not advance
200 m breaststroke 2:25.52 14 Q 2:25.14 NR 14 Did not advance
Tanja Kylliäinen 200 m individual medley 2:14.97 25 Did not advance
400 m individual medley 4:45.33 NR 25 Did not advance
Mimosa Jallow
Jenna Laukkanen
Emilia Pikkarainen
Hanna-Maria Seppälä
4 × 100 m medley relay 4:01.61 11 Did not advance

Table tennis

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Finland has entered one athlete for the first time into the Olympic table tennis competition. Benedek Oláh granted an invitation from ITTF to compete in the men's singles as one of the next seven highest-ranked eligible players, not yet qualified, on the Olympic Ranking List.[29]

Athlete Event Preliminary Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final / BM
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Benedek Oláh Men's singles Bye   Chen F (SIN)
W 4–1
  Groth (DEN)
L 0–4
Did not advance

Taekwondo

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Finland entered one athlete into the taekwondo competition at the Olympics. 2012 Olympian Suvi Mikkonen secured a spot in the women's lightweight category (57 kg) by virtue of her top two finish at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey.[30][31]

Athlete Event Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Repechage Final / BM
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Suvi Mikkonen Women's −57 kg   Vasconcelos (BRA)
W 10–9
  Glasnović (SWE)
L 4–7
Did not advance

Weightlifting

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Finland has qualified one male weightlifter for the Rio Olympics by virtue of a top seven national finish at the 2016 European Championships.[20][32] Meanwhile, an unused women's Olympic spot was added to the Finnish weightlifting team by IWF, as a response to the vacancy of women's quota places in the individual World Rankings and to the "multiple positive cases" of doping on several nations.[33] The team must allocate these places to individual athletes by 20 June 2016.

Athlete Event Snatch Clean & Jerk Total Rank
Result Rank Result Rank
Milko Tokola Men's −85 kg 145 20 175 19 320 19
Anni Vuohijoki Women's −63 kg 85 11 107 10 192 10

Wrestling

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Finland has qualified three wrestlers for each of the following weight classes into the Olympic tournament. Two of them finished among the top six to book an Olympic spot each in the men's Greco-Roman 85 kg and women's freestyle 58 kg the 2015 World Championships.[34][35]

One more wrestler had claimed the remaining Olympic slot in the men's Greco-Roman 66 kg to round out the Finnish roster at the initial meet of the World Qualification Tournament in Ulaanbaatar.[36]

Key:

  • VT – Victory by Fall.
  • PP – Decision by Points – the loser with technical points.
  • PO – Decision by Points – the loser without technical points.
  • ST – Technical superiority – the loser without technical points and a margin of victory of at least 8 (Greco-Roman) or 10 (freestyle) 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
Tero Välimäki −66 kg Bye   Bolkvadze (GEO)
L 0–3 PO
Did not advance 15
Rami Hietaniemi −85 kg Bye   Hrustanović (AUT)
L 1–3 PP
Did not advance 11
Women's freestyle
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
Petra Olli −58 kg Bye   Adeniyi (NGR)
W 3–1 PP
  Tynybekova (KGZ)
L 1–3 PP
Did not advance 10

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Laine, Sami (2 August 2016). "Tuuli Petäjä-Sirén kantaa Suomen lippua Riossa" [Tuuli Ptäjä-Sirén will bear the Finnish flag in Rio] (in Finnish). Yle.
  2. ^ Männikkö, Ville (18 July 2016). "Suomi lähtee Rioon monipuolisella joukkueella" [Finland's versatile team goes to Rio] (in Finnish). Turun Sanomat. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Suomen joukkue Rioon paisui 54 urheilijaan" [The Finnish team to Rio increased to 54 athletes] (in Finnish). Savon Sanomat. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  4. ^ "Rio 2016, more flag bearers for sailing than Beijing and London combined". International Sailing Federation. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  5. ^ "Hanna-Maria Seppälästä kypsyi äidin valmennuksessa historiallinen uimari – tänään viidettä kertaa olympialaisissa" [From her mother's coaching, Hanna-Maria Seppälä transformed herself into the swimming legend, going to the Olympics for the fifth time] (in Finnish). Yle. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  6. ^ "For Finns, the most disappointing Olympics ever". Yle. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Europe's Olympic places awarded in Nottingham". World Archery Federation. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Last 11 Olympic places awarded in Antalya". World Archery Federation. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  9. ^ "iaaf.org – Top Lists". IAAF. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  10. ^ "IAAF Games of the XXX Olympiad – Rio 2016 Entry Standards" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Kahdeksan urheilijaa nimettiin Rion olympiajoukkueesee" [Eight athletes have been named for the Rio Olympics] (in Finnish). Finnish Olympic Committee. 13 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  12. ^ Sukumar, Dev (5 May 2016). "Provisional List of Olympic Qualifiers Published". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Ireland's Katie Taylor all set to defend her Olympic title as ten nations qualify boxers for Rio 2016 on emotional day at the Women's World Championships". AIBA. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  14. ^ "UCI announce women's road cycling quotas for Rio Olympics". Cyclingnews.com. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  15. ^ Partanen, Minttu-Maaria (20 January 2016). "Sisukas tamma auttoi kenttäratsastaja Elmo Jankarin kiinni Rion olympiapaikkaan" [Strong field helped Elmo Jankari and his horse earned a place for the Rio Olympics] (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  16. ^ "Six nations make Olympic and Paralympic débuts at Rio 2016 equestrian events". FEI. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  17. ^ "Olympic Rankings – Men". International Golf Federation. 11 July 2016. Archived from the original on 24 August 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  18. ^ "Olympic Rankings – Women". International Golf Federation. 11 July 2016. Archived from the original on 20 July 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  19. ^ "Rio 2016 Olympic qualifiers in Men's Artistic Gymnastics: See the updated list!". FIG. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  20. ^ a b c d "Kuusi urheilijaa nimettiin Rion olympiajoukkueeseenjoukkueesee" [Six athletes named to the Olympic team] (in Finnish). Finnish Olympic Committee. 27 April 2016. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  21. ^ "Staniouta wins, Ashirbayeva tops list of Rhythmic Olympic qualifiers at Test Event". FIG. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  22. ^ "IJF Officially Announces Qualified Athletes for Rio 2016 Olympic Games". International Judo Federation. 23 June 2016. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  23. ^ "Judossa uusia Suomen mestareita – Emilia Kanerva pysyi kultakannassa" [New Finnish judo champions – Emilia Kanerva defends her title] (in Finnish). Yle. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  24. ^ "Rio 2016 Olympic Laser Spots Snapped Up At Santander 2014 ISAF Worlds". ISAF. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  25. ^ "Quota Places by Nation and Number". www.issf-sports.org/. ISSF. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  26. ^ "Swimming World Rankings". FINA. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  27. ^ "Rio 2016 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Rio 2016. FINA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  28. ^ "Seitsemän urheilijaa nimettiin Rion olympiajoukkueeseen" [Seven more athletes have been named to the Rio Olympic team] (in Finnish). Finnish Olympic Committee. 9 December 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  29. ^ "Olah skrev historia – säkrade OS-plats" [Olah has made history, secured Olympic place] (in Finnish). Yle. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  30. ^ "Suvi Mikkonen otteli olympiapaikan taekwondossa" [Suvi Mikkonen fights for the Olympic place in taekwondo] (in Finnish). Finnish Olympic Committee. 18 January 2016. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  31. ^ "Refugee Athlete Among 16 Taekwondo Fighters to Secure Rio 2016 Place at European Qualification Tournament". World Taekwondo Federation. 18 January 2016. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  32. ^ "Continental Qualification current standing". International Weightlifting Federation. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  33. ^ "Second day of the IWF Executive Board meeting in Tbilisi". International Weightlifting Federation. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  34. ^ "Wrestling for Rio 2016". United World Wrestling. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  35. ^ "Painiruletti pyörähtää Las Vegasissa" [Wrestlers spin in Las Vegas] (in Finnish). Ilkka. 7 September 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  36. ^ May, William (22 April 2016). "Uzbekistan, Sweden Double Up in Bronze Medal Playoffs at 1st World OG Qualifier". United World Wrestling. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
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