Esko Olavi Mikkola (born 14 February 1975 in
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
) is a
Finnish
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 ...
javelin throw
The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...
er.
Competing for the
Arizona Wildcats track and field
The Arizona Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for college footb ...
team, Mikkola won two
NCAA DI javelin titles.
He won a silver medal at the
2003 Summer Universiade
The 2003 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXII Summer Universiade, took place in Daegu, South Korea.
Emblem
* The alphabet letter "U" and five stars, which is FISU's emblem, make up the basis of the emblem for the Daegu Universiade.
* It sym ...
in Daegu and finished eleventh at the
2004 Olympic Games
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
in Athens. He then competed at the
2005 World Championships without reaching the final.
His personal best throw is 84.27 metres, achieved in July 2004 in
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
.
Javelin throwing is not Mikkola's only claim to fame. His first sport was wrestling, which he did for ten years or more and is now exploring the sport of bobsledding.
Esko was a research assistant at The University of Arizona, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and has published numerous papers in the fields of prognostic cells and radiation effects. As of spring 2008, Mikkola has completed his Ph.D. and has returned to Finland for the summer to concentrate on training for the 2008 Olympics.
Currently, he works as the CEO for the company Alphacore that he founded, located in Phoenix, Arizona. He has received U.S. citizenship.
Achievements
Seasonal bests by year
*1992 - 61.36
*1993 - 65.72
*1994 - 73.32
*1996 - 73.32
*1997 - 73.34
*1998 - 81.86
*1999 - 81.61
*2000 - 74.06
*2001 - 82.48
*2002 - 76.60
*2003 - 82.02
*2004 - 84.27
*2005 - 82.14
*2006 - 80.05
*2007 - 82.34
*2008 - 82.83
*2009 - 80.08
*2010 - 74.80
References
*
Notes
1975 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Tampere
University of Arizona alumni
Finnish male javelin throwers
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes for Finland
Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)
FISU World University Games silver medalists for Finland
Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade
Finnish expatriates in the United States
20th-century Finnish people
21st-century Finnish people
Finnish company founders
Naturalized citizens of the United States
NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
Arizona Wildcats men's track and field athletes
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