Finland NOC news

24 May 2023 - Find here the latest news from the National Olympic Committee: events, courses, general assemblies and elections, trophies and much more.

24 May 2023 - Finnish Olympic champion and cross country-skiing pioneer Siiri Rantanen died on 5 May, aged 98. She had been Finland’s oldest living Olympian. Rantanen took part in the first-ever women’s Olympic cross-country skiing competition at the Olympic Winter Games Oslo 1952, where she won the 10km bronze medal. Four years later, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, she became an Olympic champion as part of the Finnish 3x5km relay team. Her third Olympic medal, another bronze, also came in the relay event, at the Squaw Valley 1960 Games. Rantanen was named Finnish Sports Personality of the Year in the women’s category several times, and in 2009 she received Finnish sport’s highest honour, the Great Cross of Merit for Finnish Sports Culture. More info here on the NOC website.

28 January 2019 - The New Leaders Sport Leadership Education programme kicked off in Vilnius (Lithuania) from 21 to 23 January. A legacy project by Birgitta Kervinen, the 2017 winner of the IOC Women and Sport award, this programme is a joint effort coordinated by the Finnish NOC with the IOC, the EOC, the Lithuanian NOC, the Irish NOC and the NOC of Azerbaijan. At the first workshop, on the theme “Lead the change – Be the change”, the 30 participants from Europe, named “game-changers”, set realistic and tangible goals, to be followed by concrete action plans to transform the sports movement to be more equal, transparent and ethical. This programme, its three workshops and a closing conference are educating 30 participants to become game-changers over a period of one year. Concrete action plans will be designed on a personal and organisational level, bringing to life the IOC Gender Equality Recommendations and creating a culture of change in Europe. Full details here.