Ritva Tuulikki "Kike" Elomaa (née ''Sainio''; born 16 July 1955, in Lokalahti) 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 ...

professional female bodybuilding champion,

pop singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, and member of the

Finnish Parliament The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

Early life and education

Kike Elomaa was born in Lokalahti,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in 1955. She matriculated from

Mynämäki Mynämäki (; sv, Virmo) is a municipality of Finland located in the Southwest Finland region. Neighbouring municipalities are Aura, Eura, Laitila, Masku, Nousiainen, Pöytyä, Rusko, Taivassalo, Turku and Vehmaa. The municipality has a p ...

gymnasium in 1975 and graduated from Helsinki Nursing School as

radiographer Radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, diagnostic radiographers and medical radiation technologists are healthcare professionals who specialize in the imaging of human anatomy for the diagnosis and treatment of pathology. Radi ...

in 1980.

Bodybuilding career

Amateur

Professional

In 1981, Kike defeated

Rachel McLish Rachel Livia Elizondo McLish (born 21 June 1955) is an American female bodybuilding champion, actress, and author. Early life and education McLish was born as Raquel Livia Elizondo in 1955 in Harlingen, Texas, the second-youngest daughter born. ...

at the IFBB Ms. Olympia. Following her wildly successful contest campaign in 1981, she competed only three more times, placing third at the 1982 IFBB Ms. Olympia and second at the 1983 IFBB Pro Worlds.

Retirement

Kike ended her career on stage after a fifth-place finish at the 1983 IFBB Ms. Olympia.

Legacy

Currently Kike is the most successful Finnish bodybuilder of all time. She was the only non-American to win the Ms. Olympia title until 2000. She was inducted into the

IFBB Hall of Fame The IFBB Hall of Fame was established in 1999 to honor outstanding athletes and officials in the sport of bodybuilding. There have been no inductees since 2011. Induction years 1999 *Carla Dunlap *Cory Everson *John Grimek * Lee Haney * Rachel Mc ...

in 2001. She has also been awarded the IFBB's President's Gold Medal for her work in supporting the sport of bodybuilding. A fitness contest, the Kike Elomaa Fitness Championship, is held annually in Finland.

Contest history

* 1981 Finnish Championships – 1st * 1981 European Championships – 1st * 1981

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

– 1st (Middleweight Women) * 1981 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 1st * 1982 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 3rd * 1983 Pro World Championship – 2nd * 1983 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 5th

Parliament of Finland

2011 election

On 17 April 2011, Kike was elected into

Finnish parliament The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

for the 2011–2015 term, representing the electoral district of Finland Proper as a member of the

Finns Party The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The ...

. On 13 June 2017, Elomaa and 19 others left the Finns Party parliamentary group to found the New Alternative parliamentary group. However, on 22 June, she left the group and re-joined the Finns Party.

References

, colspan = 3 align = center , Ms. Olympia , - , width = 30% align = center , Preceded by:
Rachel McLish , width = 40% align = center , First (1981) , width = 30% align = center , Succeeded by:
Rachel McLish 1955 births Living people People from Uusikaupunki Finnish Lutherans Finns Party politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–15) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–19) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2019–23) 21st-century Finnish women politicians Finnish female bodybuilders 20th-century Finnish women singers Finnish pop singers Professional bodybuilders World Games gold medalists Competitors at the 1981 World Games {{Finland-sport-bio-stub