Jouni Johannes Grönman (born 17 May 1962), is a Finnish former

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

who competed at four

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, and won a bronze medal at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles. Grönman was born and trained in

Pori Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...

, on the west coast of Finland. A lightweight, he was a 15-time Finnish champion and won five Nordic titles. He started competing internationally as a weightlifter in 1983, placing fifth at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, and sixth at 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 ...

. He won a silver medal at the 1984 European Championships, which was followed soon after by his first appearance in the Olympics.

Olympic career

Due to the Soviet boycott, the top four placed lifters from the World Championships were absent for the 1984 Olympics, so Grönman came into the event as one of the favorites. He had the final lift of the competition, and although he got bar to his shoulders was unable to get it over his head to China's Yao Jingyuan. Instead he won a bronze medal from his earlier 312.5 kg effort, the same total of the silver medalist Andrei Socaci, who got second place on account of his body weight being less than Grönman's. It was only the second Olympics that Finland won a weightlifting medal, in fact he and heavyweight lifter Pekka Niemi's bronze medals were the first since Kaarlo Kangasniemi won gold in 1968. He represented Finland in a further three Olympics. In

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

he did not register a successful lift, but in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

he finished in fifth position overall. His final appearance came in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and he was the oldest competitor in the field at the age of 34. He finished in 17th position.

References

External links

Jouni Grönman
at Sports-Reference {{DEFAULTSORT:Gronman, Jouni 1962 births Living people Finnish male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1984 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1988 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Pori Olympic medalists in weightlifting 20th-century Finnish sportsmen