Heli Maarit Kruger (née Koivula, formerly Koivula-Kruger; born 27 June 1975) is a Finnish former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

. She was born in

Kauhajoki Kauhajoki (; literally “Scoop River”) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, southwest of the city of Seinäjoki. The population of Kauhajoki is ...

and represented

Kauhajoen Karhu Kauhajoki Karhu Basket ( en, Kauhajoki Bear Basket), is a Finnish basketball team from Kauhajoki. The team plays in Korisliiga, the highest tier of Finnish basketball. In 2018, the club achieved their first Korisliiga title ever after defeating ...

throughout her career. She lives in

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

. Her main athletic events were the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

and the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. She won the silver medal at the

2002 European Championships in Athletics The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany. Men's results Track 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , 2010 , 1 Dwain Chambers originally won the 100 m in 9.96 and was p ...

in triple jump, with a wind assisted result of 14.83 metres. She held the Finnish record in triple jump, clearing 14.39 metres, from 2003 to 2021. She was married to discus thrower

Frantz Kruger Frantz Kruger (born 22 May 1975 in Kempton Park, South Africa) is a South African born Finnish discus thrower who won the Olympic bronze medal in 2000. He is also a double African champion. His personal best throw of 70.32 metres, achieved i ...

Achievements

References

External links

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1975 births Living people People from Kauhajoki Sportspeople from Vaasa Finnish female long jumpers Finnish female triple jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Finland European Athletics Championships medalists 20th-century Finnish women 21st-century Finnish women {{Finland-athletics-bio-stub