Marjo Tuulevi Matikainen-Kallström (born 3 February 1965) is a Finnish former

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and cross-country skier.

Politics

Matikainen-Kallström has represented the

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

(Kokoomus) in Finland. From 1996 to 2004 she was a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

, and from 2004 to 2015 a 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 P ...

Athletics

She had a very short but winning sporting career. In the six seasons she competed at a top international level, she won the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

three years in a row. At the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) and commonly known as Sarajevo '84 (Serbian Cy ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, Matikainen-Kallström won a bronze medal in the relay aged just 19. Four years later in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

she won bronze on the 10 km race, and in the 5 km sprint won gold after being in second place all race until the last kilometre before coming through to win, 1.3

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

s ahead of

Tamara Tikhonova Tamara Ivanovna Tikhonova (; born 13 June 1964) is a Soviet-Russian former cross-country skier who competed from 1984 to 1992. She represented the Soviet Union at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, where she won three medals with golds in the ...

, who had to settle for silver. That same year she won another bronze medal in the relay. At the

1987 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1987 took place 11–21 February 1987 in Oberstdorf, West Germany. Following the domination of the skating technique at the previous championships, the International Ski Federation (FIS) introduced separate c ...

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in German ...

, she won the 5 km and silver in the 10 km. Matikainen-Kallström finished her championship career with a fantastic

1989 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1989 took place 17–26 February 1989 in Lahti, Finland, for a record fifth time (1926, 1938, 1958, 1978). The women's 5 km was not held after being reintroduced in the previous championships. These cha ...

on her home soil in

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, where she won the following medals: Matikainen-Kallström also was the first winner of the women's 30 km event at the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( 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 and has been arranged every ...

in 1988.

Scholastics

She quit competition after these championships at the age of 24 to concentrate on her studies at the

Helsinki University of Technology Helsinki University of Technology (TKK; ; , HUT in international usage) was a technical university in Finland. It was located in Otaniemi, Espoo in the Helsinki metropolitan area, and it was one of the three universities from which the modern d ...

and on politics.

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 4 medals – (1 gold, 3 bronze)

World Championships

* 7 medals – (3 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)

World Cup

Season titles

* 3 titles – (3 overall)

Season standings

Individual podiums

* 8 victories * 17 podiums

Team podiums

* 1 victory * 8 podiums Note: Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

References

Holmenkollen winners since 1892
– click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matikainen-Kallstrom, Marjo 1965 births Living people People from Lohja National Coalition Party politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (2003–2007) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2007–2011) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–2015) National Coalition Party MEPs MEPs for Finland 1996–1999 MEPs for Finland 1999–2004 20th-century women MEPs for Finland 21st-century women MEPs for Finland Cross-country skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Finnish female cross-country skiers Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Finnish sportsperson-politicians Women members of the Parliament of Finland Finnish women engineers Aalto University alumni Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland