Tapani Jarkko Ala-Huikku (born January 31, 1980, in

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; la, Wegelia, formerly sv, Östermyra) is a city located in South Ostrobothnia, Finland; east of Vaasa, north of Tampere, west of Jyväskylä and southwest of Oulu. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bru ...

) is an amateur Finnish Greco-Roman wrestler, who played for the men's lightweight category. He won the bronze medal for his division at the 2007 European Wrestling Championships in

Sofia, Bulgaria Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, and gold at the

2008 European Wrestling Championships The 2008 FILA European Wrestling Championships were held in Tampere, Finland. The event took place from 1 April to 6 April 2008. Medal table Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle External linksOfficial website

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 ...

. He is also a member of Ilmajoen Kisailijat Wrestling Club in

Ilmajoki Ilmajoki (; sv, Ilmola) is a municipality of Finland. Ilmajoki is a town and municipality situated in Finland's South Ostrobothnia region, founded in 1865. Ilmajoki has a population of 12,165 (28. February 2017)and covers an area of 579.79 ...

, and is coached and trained by Seppo Yli-Hannuksela, the father of two-time Olympic medalist

Marko Yli-Hannuksela Marko Juhani Yli-Hannuksela (born 21 December 1973 in Ilmajoki) is a Finland, Finnish former wrestling, wrestler. His most notable accomplishments are his two Olympic medals and a world championship in Greco-Roman amateur wrestling, wrestl ...

. At age twenty-eight, Ala-Huikku made his official debut at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, where he competed in the men's 60 kg class. He received a bye for the second preliminary match, before losing out to Kyrgyzstan's Ruslan Tumenbaev, who was able to score seven points in two straight periods, leaving Ala-Huikku with a single point. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Ala-Huikku, however, lost again in the second preliminary match of men's 60 kg class to France's

Tarik Belmadani Tarik Belmadini (born 17 November 1987 in Viriat) is a French Greco-Roman wrestler. He competed in the Wrestling at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman 60 kg, Greco-Roman 60 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics; after defeating Jark ...

, with a technical score of 0–4. Nowadays Ala-Huikku is working as sport journalist and commentator in Finnish Broadcasting Company

YLE Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

References

External links

Profile – International Wrestling DatabaseProfile – Suomen Olympiakomitea

1980 births Living people Olympic wrestlers of Finland Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics People from Seinäjoki Finnish male sport wrestlers Sportspeople from South Ostrobothnia 20th-century Finnish people 21st-century Finnish people {{Finland-wrestling-bio-stub