A close victory

Four years later at the Olympic Games in Calgary, she gained another bronze medal in the 10km race. In the 5km contest, she moved ahead of Tamara Tikhonova's pace after four kilometres and then used every bit of her remaining strength to push herself across the finish line 1.3 seconds faster than her pursuer, before collapsing.

An early retirement

Matikainen earned a third bronze medal, this time in the 1988 relay and then retired at the age of 23 in order to pursue her academic studies. She was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and distinguished herself as an anti-tobacco activist.