Mika Tervala 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 ...

mountain bike orienteering Mountain bike orienteering (MTB-O or MTBO) is an orienteering endurance racing sport on a mountain bike where navigation is done along trails and tracks. Compared with foot orienteering, competitors usually are not permitted to leave the trail ...

competitor Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

, World Champion and European Champion. He won individual gold medals at the 2002, 2006 and 2007 World Championships, and a gold medal in the relay in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Mika coaches the

national mountain bike orienteering teams since spring 2008.

Early sports career

Tervala started his sports career with

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...

. He competed in biathlon until 1993, when he switched to

ski orienteering Ski orienteering (SkiO) is a cross-country skiing endurance winter racing sport and one of the four orienteering disciplines recognized by the IOF. A successful ski orienteer combines high physical endurance, strength and excellent technical skii ...

Mountain bike orienteering

2002-2005

After his ski orienteering period Tervala experienced several successful years in

. He competed at the very first World Championships, in Fontainebleau in 2002, where he won a gold medal in the sprint, placed ninth in the long distance, and earned a bronze medal in the relay with the Finnish team. At the 2004 World Championships in Ballarat he placed sixth in the middle distance, won a silver medal in the long distance, and a gold medal in the relay together with Timo Sarkkinen and

Jussi Mäkilä Jussi Mäkilä is a Finnish mountain bike orienteering competitor and World Champion. He won an individual gold medal at the 2002 World MTB Orienteering Championships The World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships is the official ...

. He won a bronze medal in the middle distance at the 2005 World Championships in Banská Bystrica, and the Finnish team won the gold medal in the relay with the same team as in 2004 (Tervala, Timo Sarkkinen, Jussi Mäkilä).

2006-2008

In 2006 the World Championships were held in

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. The ...

in Finland. Tervala won a silver medal in the middle distance, and gold medals in the long distance and in the relay (with Jussi Mäkilä and Tuomo Tompuri). At the European Championships in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in August–September 2006, Tervala won gold medals in the long distance and in the relay, and a silver medal in the middle distance. At the European Championships in Castelfiorentino 2007 Tervala won gold medals in both the long distance and the middle distance. The 2007 World Championships were held in Nove Mesto in August. Tervala placed fifth in the sprint distance and won a gold medal in the middle distance, while the Finnish relay team placed fifth. He also participated at the 2008 World Championships in Ostróda, where he placed sixth in the relay with the Finnish team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tervala, Mika Finnish male orienteers Finnish male cyclists Orienteering coaches Finnish sports coaches Mountain bike orienteers Finnish ski-orienteers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Finnish mountain bikers