Emma Kristiina Terho (born 17 December 1981) is a Finnish retired

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

and the current Chair of the

IOC Athletes' Commission International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission (IOC AC) is a majority elected body that serves as a link between athletes and the IOC. The mission of the IOC AC is to ensure that athletes' viewpoint remains at the heart of the Olympic Movemen ...

. She previously served as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Kiekko-Espoo Naiset Kiekko-Espoo Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They play in the Tapiola district of Espoo, Finland at the ('training arena') of the Tapiolan urheilupuisto. The team was founded as Espoon Kiekkoseura (EKS) in 1989 and has als ...

in the

Naisten Liiga The Kansallinen Liiga ('National League') is the premier division of women's football in Finland. It was previously called the Jalkapallon naisten SM-sarja ('Women's Football Finnish Championship Series') during 1974 to 2006 and the Naisten Lii ...

. At the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

she became the youngest Winter Olympian to medal for Finland, winning a bronze medal at the age of 16 years 54 days.

Playing career

Ohio State University

Terho played

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

with the

Ohio State Buckeyes women's ice hockey Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

program while attending

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

(OSU) during 2000 to 2004. In the 2001–02 season she was the first women's ice hockey player from Ohio State to earn All-American honors when she was named to the 2001–02

Jofa Jofa, originally short for ''Jonssons Fabriker'' (Jonsson's Factories) is a maker of sporting equipment for sports such as ice hockey, bandy, and horseback riding, based in Malung, Sweden. History Niss Oskar Jonsson founded Jofa in 1926. It can b ...

American Hockey Coaches Association The American Hockey Coaches Association was formed in 1947 in Boston. The founding members coached college ice hockey but membership has grown to include coaches at every level of the sport from youth hockey to professional ice hockey, although ...

(AHCA) Second Team All-American and was a top-10 finalist for the

Patty Kazmaier Award The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is given to the top female college ice hockey player in the United States. The award is presented during the women's annual ice hockey championship, the Frozen Four. The award was first presented in 1998. The awa ...

. On 11 October 2008, Terho became the first women's hockey player to have her Buckeye number retired. The retirement ceremony occurred prior to an

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

vs.

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

football game at

Ohio Stadium Ohio Stadium is an American football stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on the campus of Ohio State University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team and is also the site for the university's Spring Commencement c ...

, where Terho was recognized on the field at the 50-yard line. She was inducted into the

Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame The Ohio State Varsity "O" Hall of Fame is the athletic hall of fame for The Ohio State University. Its purpose is to recognize individuals who have contributed to the honor and fame of the university in the field of athletics. An athlete must hav ...

on 25 September 2009.

Espoo Blues, 2004–2007

In Finland she played with the

Espoo Blues Naiset Kiekko-Espoo Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They play in the Tapiola district of Espoo, Finland at the ('training arena') of the Tapiolan urheilupuisto. The team was founded as Espoon Kiekkoseura (EKS) in 1989 and has al ...

, with whom she won the

Finnish Championship Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

eight times (1999, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014, and 2015). With the Espoo Blues she won three Finnish Championship bronze medals (1997, 1998, and 2006).

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

In the 2007–08 season Terho played in

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

with SKIF of the

Russian Women's Hockey League The Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL; russian: Женская хоккейная лига, translit=Zhenskaya khokkeynaya liga, translation=Women's Hockey League), officially called the Women's Hockey League (WHL), is a professional ice hockey leagu ...

(RWHL). Three other Finnish players, forwards

Kati Kovalainen Katariina Johanna "Kati" Kovalainen (born 24 January 1975) is a Finnish retired ice hockey player and former member of the Finnish national ice hockey team. She represented Finland in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympic ...

Karoliina Rantamäki Karoliina Stina Margaretha "Karo" Rantamäki (born 23 February 1978) is a Finnish ice hockey Forward (ice hockey), forward and Captain (ice hockey), captain of Stadin Gimmat (HIFK Naiset) of the Naisten Liiga (ice hockey), Naisten Liiga (NSML), t ...

, and

Nora Tallus Nora Tallus, previously Liikanen, (born 9 February 1981) is a Finnish retired ice hockey forward, currently serving as assistant coach to KJT Haukat of the Naisten Mestis. She represented in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2006 Wint ...

, also played for SKIF in that season. The team won the 2008 Russian Women's Hockey League Championship.

Espoo, 2008–2017

Terho returned to the Espoo Blues after the 2007-08 season in Russia. The 2008-09 season was very successful, both personally and for the team. Terho set a career high for assists with 32 and ended the regular season with an impressive 34 points in just 19 games.

International play

As a member of the Finnish national ice hockey team, Terho was a five-time Winter Olympian and two time Olympic bronze medalist. In the inaugural Olympic women's ice hockey tournament at the 1998 Olympics, she was the youngest player on the bronze medal winning Finnish team, at 16 years and 54 days. She served as Finland's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the women's ice hockey tournament at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, at which she won her second Olympic bronze medal, and as an alternate captain in the women's ice hockey tournament at the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

. Terho also represented Finland at eight

IIHF Women's World Championships The IIHF World Women's Championship (WW or WWC), officially the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship, is the premier international tournament in women's ice hockey. It is governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The offi ...

, winning bronze medals at the tournaments in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, in addition to participating at the tournaments in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. She was selected to the Media All-Star team at the 2008 tournament.

Sports administration

Terho became involved in the administrative aspect of sport as a member of the Student Athlete Board during her junior and senior years at Ohio State University (2002–2004). In 2006, after graduating and returning to Finland to play in the Naisten SM-sarja, she became a member of the

Finnish Olympic Committee The Finnish Olympic Committee ( fi, Suomen Olympiakomitea ry; sv, Finlands Olympiska Kommitté rf) is the national Olympic committee in Finland for the Olympic Games movement. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams, and raises funds ...

. In 2011 as part of the IIHF Ambassador and Mentor Program (AMP) she became an Athlete Ambassador to Kazakhstan with the directive to use her experience at Olympic Games, World Championships, and other high level women's ice hockey programs to help build the women's game in her designated country. As her playing career wound down, Terho ramped up her involvement in Finnish sports administration and became an influential and important player in that sphere. At the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

, Terho was elected for an eight-year term as a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, with the largest share of votes of all candidates put forward. The election also made her an

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Member. On 6 August 2021, at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Terho was elected as the new Chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission. She replaced outgoing Chair

Kirsty Coventry Kirsty Leigh Coventry Seward (born 16 September 1983) is a Zimbabwean swimmer and politician currently serving as the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe since September 2018. A former Olympic swimmer and wo ...

, who had served as Chair since 2018 and had remained in role for an additional year beyond her eight-year term to help maintain the IOC Athletes’ Commission's work during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, following the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games.

Administrative titles and roles

* Member of the Board,

Finnish Ice Hockey Association The Finnish Ice Hockey Association ( fi, Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto, sv, Finlands Ishockeyförbund) is the governing body of ice hockey in Finland. In 1927, the Finnish Skating Association introduced ice hockey as part of its program and, through ...

, 2014–present * Member of the Finnish Advisory Board of Sport Ethics, 2015–present * Chair of Finnish Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission, 2016–2020; member, 2006–2016 * Member of the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

(IIHF) Women's Committee, 2016–present * Member of the

(IOC), 2018–present ** Chair of the

, 2021–present; member, 2018–2021 ** Member of the Coordination Commission for the XXIV Olympic Winter Games (Beijing 2022), 2018–2022 ** Member of the Olympic Programme Commission, 2018–present ** Member of the Marketing Commission, 2020–2021 ** Member of the Legal Affairs Commission, 2019–2021 ** Member of the Olympic Solidarity Commission, 2022–present * Member of the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...

(WADA) Foundation Board, 2018–present ** Member of the Executive Committee, 2021–present

Personal life

Terho's mother is Vappu Viertola and her father is , a physicist and leading expert in the fields of nuclear energy and radiation safety; he served as Director General of the Finnish

Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority ( fi, Säteilyturvakeskus, sv, Strålsäkerhetscentralen), often abbreviated as STUK, is a government agency tasked with nuclear safety and radiation monitoring in Finland. The agency is a division of ...

during 1997 to 2012. Terho was born on 17 December 1981 in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where her father had been invited to survey and improve nuclear safety in the United States following the

Three Mile Island accident The Three Mile Island accident was a partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor in Pennsylvania, United States. It began at 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979. It is the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclea ...

in 1979. Terho holds a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

from Ohio State University (2004) and a Masters of Science in Economics from the

Helsinki School of Economics The Aalto University School of Business ( fi, Aalto-yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu; sv, Aalto-universitets handelshögskola), is the largest business school in Finland. Founded in 1911, it is the second oldest business school in Finland and one of ...

Aalto University Aalto University ( fi, Aalto-yliopisto; sv, Aalto-universitetet) is a public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the He ...

(2013). She began her career in finance while still an active ice hockey player, serving as a fixed income trader for Pohjola Bank from 2006 to 2013. Beginning in 2014, Terho served as a product manager for fixed income products at OP-Pohjola Financial Group. Her husband, Teemu Terho, also works in banking. They have two children, born in 2012 and 2014.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Club tournaments

International

Sources:

Awards and honours

Sources:

Records

NCAA

''Records valid through 2021–22 NCAA season.'' Season * 2nd most power-play goals (17), 2000–01 season – tied with Valerie Chouinard (2006–07) Single-game * Most power play goals (3), Ohio State vs. Wayne State on 2 March 2001 – tied for first with nine other players: Andie Anastos, Hilary Knight, Bridgette Prentiss, Bobbi Ross, Melanie Salatino,

Jenny Schmidgall-Potter Jennifer Lynn Schmidgall-Potter (born January 12, 1979) is an American ice hockey player. She is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She won a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 2002 Winter Ol ...

, Laura Slominski,

Blayre Turnbull Blayre Turnbull (born July 15, 1993) is a Canadian ice hockey player for the PWHPA. She made her debut with the Canada women's national ice hockey team at the 2014 4 Nations Cup. Career Turnbull attended Shattuck-St. Mary's, where she was a cl ...

, and

Rebecca Vint Rebecca Vint (born May 5, 1992) is a Canadian-born women's ice hockey player. She played with the Robert Morris Colonials women's ice hockey program and graduated as the program's all-time leading scorer, with 73 goals and 134 points. She most re ...

WCHA

''Records valid through 2021–22 NCAA season.'' Career * 9th most goals by a defender (34) – tied with

Kerry Weiland Kerry Pauline Weiland Sorbara (; born October 18, 1980) is an American retired ice hockey and Roller in-line hockey, inline hockey player, a defenceman, defenseman. As a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team, she won four I ...

and

Rachel Ramsey Rachel Ramsey (born 14 October 1992) is a former American ice hockey forward who won three US Collegiate (NCAA) championships with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. She is the daughter of former Olympic and NHL star Mike Ramsey. Ea ...

* 24th most assists by a defender (65) – tied with

Bobbi-Jo Slusar Bobbi-Jo Slusar (born June 6, 1985) is a Canadian ice hockey player. Born in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Slusar was a member of the Canada women's national ice hockey team from 2006 to 2008. Currently, she played for the Brampton Thunder in the ...

and Mekenzie Steffen Season * Most power play goals (17), 2000–01 season * 4th most goals by a defender (19), 2000–01 season * 10th most power play points (29), 2000–01 season – tied with Jenny Schmidgall-Potter (2002–03) and

Jocelyne Lamoureux Jocelyne Nicole Lamoureux-Davidson (born July 3, 1989) is a former American ice hockey player, author, gender equity advocate, and co-founder of the Lamoureux Foundation. She scored the game-winning shootout goal to win the gold medal for Team USA ...

(2011–12, 2012–13) * 18th most points per game by a defender (1.12), 2000–01 * 21st most points by a defender (38), 2000–01 season – tied with

Amber Bowman Amber Bowman (born January 28, 1985) is a female firefighter who has captured the world championships at the World Firefighter Challenge in 2012 and 2013. Of note, she captured gold in all four disciplines of the event: female individual, female ...

Courtney Kennedy Courtney Kennedy (born March 29, 1979) is an American ice hockey player. She won a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Kennedy was born in Woburn, Massachusetts. She went to elementary school ...

, Satu Kiipeli, and Michelle Sikich Single-game * Most power play goals (3), Ohio State vs. Wayne State on 2 March 2001 – tied for first with six other players:

Brigette Lacquette Brigette Lacquette (born November 10, 1992) is a Canadian ice hockey player, currently playing for the Calgary section of the PWHPA and the Canadian national team, playing defence. She participated at the 2015 IIHF Women's World Championship. I ...

Nadine Muzerall Nadine Muzerall (born October 19, 1978) is Minnesota's all-time leader with 139 career goals, including a record 40 power-play goals. She was a member of the inaugural team of University of Minnesota women's hockey. She is currently the head coach ...

, Bobby Ross, Melanie Salatino, Laura Slominski, and Blayre Turnbull

Ohio State Buckeyes

''Records valid through 2021–22 Ohio State Buckeyes women's ice hockey season .'' Career * 3rd most power-play goals (23) – tied with Erin Keys * 4th most points by a defenseman (99) – tied with

Jincy Dunne Jincy Rose Roese (née Dunne; born May 15, 1997) is a women's ice hockey player for PWHL Ottawa of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team, United States national team. She r ...

* 4th most power-play points (59) – tied with Laura McIntosh * 15th most points (99) – tied with Juncy Dunne Season * Most power-play goals (17), 2000–01 * Most power-play points (29), 2000–01 * 4th most points by a defenseman (38), 2000–01 – tied with Amber Bowman (2006–07) * 6th most points by a freshman (38), 2000–01 Single-game * Most power play goals (3), Ohio State vs. Wayne State on 2 March 2001

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Terho, Emma 1981 births Living people Aalto University alumni Espoo Blues Naiset players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish ice hockey administrators Finnish women's ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Washington, D.C. Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics International Olympic Committee members Kiekko-Espoo Naiset players Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Ohio State Buckeyes women's ice hockey players Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey HC SKIF players Sportspeople from Espoo Women ice hockey executives