Hannu Kalevi Manninen (born 17 April 1978 in

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...

) 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 ...

nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever Winter Olympics in 1924, while the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup ...

athlete. Debuting at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

in Lillehammer at the age of 15, he took his first medal three years later at the age of 18 when he won silver in the 4 × 5 km team event at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship eve ...

. At the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

, he won a gold medal in the 4 × 5 km team event at the age of 23. He has five other Nordic skiing World Championships medals, earning three golds (4 × 5 km team: 1999, 2007 and 7.5 km sprint: 2007) and two bronzes (4 × 5 km team: 2001, 2003). He has two other Olympic team medals as well (silver: 1998, bronze: 2006). Manninen formerly had the record for most wins (48) and most championship titles (4), after passing

Kenji Ogiwara (born 20 December 1969) is a Japanese politician and former Nordic combined skier who won several medals at the Winter Olympics, the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, and the Holmenkollen ski festival. He won gold medals in the Nordic comb ...

's records during the 2006–07 season, in the

FIS Nordic Combined World Cup The FIS Nordic Combined World Cup is a Nordic combined competition organized yearly by International Ski Federation, representing the highest level in international competition for this sport. It was first arranged for the 1983–84 season. Team e ...

. He also has won the 7.5 km sprint event of the Nordic combined three times (2002, 2004, 2005) at the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( no, Holmenkollen skifestival or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. History It takes place in March ...

. As a cross country skier, he finished 8th in the individual sprint event at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Manninen announced his first retirement from competition on 29 May 2008 to focus on his family and a future career as an

airline pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. He made his comeback to World Cup on 28 November 2009 in Ruka (Kuusamo), Finland, where he finished 2nd. Day after he won his first race after comeback. The first race in 2010 took place in Oberhof Germany where Manninen won for the 47th time in his sporting career. He made his second comeback on 7 January 2017 in Lahti, Finland, where he finished 18th.

Personal life

His younger sister, Pirjo is a cross-country skier who has also won several World Championship medals, including three golds at the

(Individual sprint: 2001, 4 × 5 km: 2007, 2009). They are the first brother-sister combination to ever win gold medals at the same championships. Manninen graduated from the Finnish Aviation Academy in 2011 and is working for

Finnair Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...

as of 2016.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

World Cup

Season standings

Sources

ESPN.com May 29, 2008 announcement of Manninen's retirement.
– accessed May 29, 2008. * FIS Newsflash 177 on Manninen's potential retirement. April 30, 2008. * . Cross-country * . Nordic combined
Holmenkollen winners since 1892
– click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file *

References