Minna Marianne Nikkanen (born 9 April 1988, in

Somero Somero () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is part of the Southwest Finland region in the province of Western Finland, located northeast of Salo, east of Turku and northwest of Helsinki. The municipality has a population of () and cove ...

) 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 ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er. Her personal best vault is 4.60 metres (national record), achieved in August 2015 in

Kuortane Kuortane is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The neighboring municipalities of Kuortane are Al ...

. Nikkanen won gold medal in 2007 European Junior Championships (4.35 metres) and silver medal in 2009 European U23 Championships (4.45 metres). She competed at the World Championships 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 in

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 ...

without reaching the final. She placed 10th in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in August 2015 with a vault which set the Finnish National Record.

International competitions

Personal best

Outdoor * 4.60 m (Kuortane 2015) Indoor * 4.61 m (Växjö 2016)

External links

* 1988 births Living people People from Somero Finnish female pole vaulters Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Finland World Athletics Championships athletes for Finland Sportspeople from Southwest Finland {{Finland-athletics-bio-stub