Marjo Tuulevi Matikainen-Kallström (born 3 February 1965 in

Lohja Lohja (; sv, Lojo) is a city and municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland. The city has a population of 47,518 (2017), and it covers an area of of which , or 8.3 percent, is water. The population density of Lohja is . The municipality is b ...

) is a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and former Finnish cross-country skier.

Politics

Matikainen-Kallström represents the

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; fi, Kansallinen Kokoomus ; '; sv, Samlingspartiet; ') is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. Ideologically, the National Coalition Par ...

(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 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 Steel Commu ...

, and since 2004 she has been 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 ...

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 concept i ...

three years in a row. At the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games ( Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки иг� ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajev ...

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

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

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 seconds ahead of

Tamara Tikhonova Tamara Ivanovna Tikhonova (russian: Тамара Ивановна Тихонова; born 13 June 1964) is a former Soviet Russian cross-country skier who competed from 1984 to 1992. She represented the Soviet Union at the 1988 Winter Olympics i ...

, 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 ...

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

, 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 champion ...

on her home soil in

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern ...

, 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 ( 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 Marc ...

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; fi, Teknillinen korkeakoulu; sv, Tekniska högskolan) was a technical university in Finland. It was located in Otaniemi, Espoo in the metropolitan area of Greater Helsinki. The university was founded in ...

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 (2003–07) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2007–11) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–15) 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 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