Finland (FIN)

Finland first competed at the 1906 Intercalated Games, in Athens, and also appeared two years later at the 1908 London Olympics. Its first Olympic Winter Games appearance was in 1924 at Chamonix (although it had two skaters entered in the figure skating events in 1920). Since those dates, Finland’s participation has been continuous, never missing an Olympic Games nor an Olympic Winter Games.

Finland’s greatest successes have come in the distance running events in the Summer Games. In those events, led by Hannes Kolehmainen, Paavo Nurmi, and Lasse Virén, Finland has been the preeminent nation, until the recent advent of the African distance runners. Prior to World War II, Finland was also the dominant nation in wrestling.

Nurmi has been their greatest Olympian, with 12 medals and nine golds. He is followed by gymnast Heikki Savolainen, with nine medals and two golds from 1928 to 1952, and distance runner Ville Ritola, with eight medals and five golds in 1924 and 1928.

Finland has competed at every Olympic Winter Games and had figure skaters competing at the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games. It has won 175 medals, and 45 gold at the Olympic Winter Games (176 and 46, if including the 1920 figure skating events, in which Walter Jakobsson and Ludowika Jakobsson-Eilers won gold in pairs).

Finland’s best sport at the Olympic Winter Games has been cross-country skiing, by far, with 86 medals and 22 gold medals. It has also been among the top nations in speedskating and ski jumping. Three Finnish cross-country skiers have won seven Olympic medals – Veikko Hakulinen (1952-1960), Eero Mäntyranta (1960-1968), and Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi-Hämälainen (1984-1994), all three winning three gold medals. They are joined by speedskater Clas Thunberg, who won seven medals, with five gold medals in 1924 and 1928.

Finland hosted the Games of the XVth Olympiad in Helsinki in 1952, and Lahti and Tampere have both bid unsuccessfully to host the Olympic Winter Games. In 1941, the Olympic Committee of Finland was awarded with the Olympic Cup.