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 Bot ...

competed at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 19 ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

. 96 competitors, 89 men and 7 women, took part in 75 events in 16 sports.

Medalists

Finland finished in 14th position in the final medal rankings, with three gold medals and eight medals overall.

Gold

Pekka Vasala Pekka Antero Vasala (born 17 April 1948) is a retired Finnish middle-distance athlete who won an Olympic gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City he failed to advance from the first round of he ...

— Athletics, Men's 1,500m *

Lasse Virén Lasse Artturi Virén (born 22 July 1949) is a Finnish former long-distance runner, winner of four gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics. Virén recaptured the image of the " Flying Finns" promoted by runners like Hannes Kolehmainen, ...

— Athletics, Men's 5,000m *

— Athletics, Men's 10,000m

Silver

* Reima Virtanen — Boxing, Men's Middleweight

Bronze

Tapio Kantanen Tapio Kantanen (born 31 May 1949) is a Finnish former athlete who mainly competed in the 3,000 metre steeple chase. He competed for Finland at the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany where he won the bronze medal in the 3,000 metres s ...

— Athletics, Men's 3,000m Steeplechase *

Kyösti Laasonen Kyösti Kalevi Laasonen (born 27 September 1945) is an archer from Finland, who was born in Kitee, Finland. Laasonen competed for Finland in the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany in the individual event where he finished i ...

— Archery, Men's Individual Competition * Risto Hurme,

Veikko Salminen Veikko Salminen (born 12 August 1945) is a Finnish modern pentathlete and épée fencer. He won a bronze medal in the team modern pentathlon event at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the ...

, and Martti Ketelä — Modern Pentathlon, Men's Team Competition * Risto Björlin — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Bantamweight

Archery

In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, Finland entered three men. They won a bronze medal. Men's Individual Competition: *

— 2467 points (→ Bronze Medal) * Olavi Laurila — 2372 points (→ 20th place) *

Jorma Sandelin Jorma Sandelin (born 4 June 1936) is a Finnish archer. He competed in the men's individual event at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 ...

— 2278 points (→ 40th place)

Athletics

Men's 100 metres * Antti Rajamäki ** First Heat — 10.52s (→ did not advance) *

Raimo Vilen Raimo is a masculine given name. People named Raimo include: *Raimo Aas (born 1953), Estonian humorist * Raimo Grönberg (born 1953), Finnish actor * Raimo Hämäläinen (born 1948), Finnish professor of Applied Mathematics and Operations Res ...

** First Heat — 11.00s (→ did not advance) Men's 1500 metres *

** Heat — 3:40.9 ** Semifinals — 3:37.9 ** Final — 3:36.3 (→ Gold Medal) * Pekka Päivärinta ** Heat — 3:40.9 ** Semifinals — 3:45.1 (→ did not advance) Men's 5000 metres *

** Heat — 13:42.0 (→ did not advance) Men's 4 × 100 m Relay * Antti Rajamäki,

, Erik Gustafsson, and

Markku Juhola Markku Juhola (born 2 November 1947) is a Finnish sprinter. He competed in the men's 200 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 ...

** Heat — 39.54s ** Semifinals — 39.30s (NR) (→ did not advance)

Boxing

Men's Light Middleweight (– 71 kg) *

Mikko Saarinen Mikko Saarinen (4 April 1946 – 29 December 2022) was a Finnish boxer. He competed in the men's light middleweight event at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and c ...

** First Round — Bye ** Second Round — Defeated

David Attan David Attan (born 15 December 1948) is a Kenyan boxer. He competed in the men's light middleweight event at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Muni ...

(KEN), TKO-2 ** Third Round — Lost to

Peter Tiepold Peter Tiepold (born 15 November 1945 in Berlin) is a former light-middleweight boxer from East Germany. He was a quarterfinalist at the 1968 Olympic Games and a bronze medallist at the 1972 Olympic Games. He competed for the SC Dynamo Berlin ...

(GDR), 0:5

Canoeing

Cycling

Six cyclists represented Finland in 1972. ; Individual road race *

Harry Hannus Harry Hannus (born 20 December 1949) is a Finnish former racing cyclist. He won the Finnish national road race title seven times between 1972 and 1984. He also competed at four consecutive Olympic Games between 1972 and 1984. References Ex ...

— did not finish (→ no ranking) * Mauno Uusivirta — did not finish (→ no ranking) * Tapani Vuorenhela — did not finish (→ no ranking) * Ole Wackström — did not finish (→ no ranking) ;

Team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

* Kalevi Eskelinen *

* Mauno Uusivirta * Ole Wackström ; Team individual pursuit * Raimo Suikkanen

Diving

Men's 3m Springboard: * Pentti Koskinen — 336.99 points (15th place) Women's 3m Springboard: * Laura Kivelä — 236.25 points (24th place) Women's 10m Platform: * Laura Kivelä — 172.65 points (22nd place)

Fencing

One fencer represented Finland in 1972. ; Men's épée * Risto Hurme

Gymnastics

Judo

Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented Finland in 1972, with them winning bronze in the team event. Men's Individual Competition: * Risto Hurme — 5094 points (→ 8th place) *

— 4852 points (→ 17th place) * Martti Ketelä — 4849 points (→ 19th place) Men's Team Competition: * Hurme, Salminen, and Ketelä — 14812 points (→ Bronze Medal)

Rowing

Men's Coxed Pairs * Leo Ahonen, Leif Anderson and Antero Yli-lkkelä **Heat — 8:06.56 **Repechage — 8:11.89 (→ did not advance)

Sailing

Shooting

Ten male shooters represented Finland in 1972. ;

25 m pistol 25 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often known as sport pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It was devised as a women's event in the 1960s, based upon the rules of 25 meter center-fire pistol but shot with a .22-caliber spo ...

* Immo Huhtinen * Seppo Mäkinen ;

50 m pistol The 50 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often called Free Pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It provides the purest precision shooting among the pistol events, and is one of the oldest shooting disciplines, dating back to t ...

* Seppo Irjala * Immo Huhtinen ; 300 m rifle, three positions * Jaakko Minkkinen * Osmo Ala-Honkola ; 50 m rifle, three positions * Esa Kervinen * Jaakko Minkkinen ; 50 m rifle, prone * Jaakko Asikainen * Esa Kervinen ;

50 m running target 50 meter running target or 50 meter running boar is an ISSF shooting event, shot with a .22-calibre rifle at a target depicting a boar moving sideways across a 10-meter wide opening. It was devised as a replacement for 100 meter running deer in th ...

* Pekka Suomela * Paavo Mikkonen ;

Skeet Skeet may refer to: * Skeet shooting, a discipline of competitive clay pigeon shooting ** ISSF Olympic skeet, a variant used at the Olympic Games People * Skeet Childress (born 1979), American guitar player in the band Look What I Did * Skeet Qu ...

* Ari Westergård

Swimming

Weightlifting

Wrestling

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finland At The 1972 Summer Olympics Nations at the 1972 Summer Olympics