Finland at the 1972 Summer Olympics
# Finland at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Finland competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 96 competitors, 89 men and 7 women, took part in 75 events in 16 sports.

## Medalists

Finland finished in 14th position in the final medal rankings, with three gold medals and eight medals overall.

### Gold

* Pekka Vasala — Athletics, Men's 1,500m
* Lasse Virén — Athletics, Men's 5,000m
* Lasse Virén — Athletics, Men's 10,000m

### Silver

* Reima Virtanen — Boxing, Men's Middleweight

### Bronze

* Tapio Kantanen — Athletics, Men's 3,000m Steeplechase
* Kyösti Laasonen — Archery, Men's Individual Competition
* Risto Hurme, Veikko Salminen, and Martti Ketelä — Modern Pentathlon, Men's Team Competition
* Risto Björlin — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Bantamweight

## Archery

In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, Finland entered three men. They won a bronze medal.

Men's Individual Competition:

* Kyösti Laasonen — 2467 points (→ Bronze Medal)
* Olavi Laurila — 2372 points (→ 20th place)
* Jorma Sandelin — 2278 points (→ 40th place)

## Athletics

Men's 100 metres

* Antti Rajamäki
   * First Heat — 10.52s (→ did not advance)
* Raimo Vilen
   * First Heat — 11.00s (→ did not advance)

Men's 1500 metres

* Pekka Vasala
   * Heat — 3:40.9
   * Semifinals — 3:37.9
   * Final — 3:36.3 (→ Gold Medal)
* Pekka Päivärinta
   * Heat — 3:40.9
   * Semifinals — 3:45.1 (→ did not advance)

Men's 5000 metres

* Tapio Kantanen
   * Heat — 13:42.0 (→ did not advance)

Men's 4 × 100 m Relay

* Antti Rajamäki, Raimo Vilen, Erik Gustafsson, and Markku Juhola
   * Heat — 39.54s
   * Semifinals — 39.30s (NR) (→ did not advance)

## Boxing

Men's Light Middleweight (– 71 kg)

* Mikko Saarinen
   * First Round — Bye
   * Second Round — Defeated David Attan (KEN), TKO-2
   * Third Round — Lost to Peter Tiepold (GDR), 0:5

## Cycling

Six cyclists represented Finland in 1972.

### Individual road race

* Harry Hannus — did not finish (→ no ranking)
* Mauno Uusivirta — did not finish (→ no ranking)
* Tapani Vuorenhela — did not finish (→ no ranking)
* Ole Wackström — did not finish (→ no ranking)

### Team time trial

* Kalevi Eskelinen
* Harry Hannus
* Mauno Uusivirta
* Ole Wackström

### Team individual pursuit

* Raimo Suikkanen

## Diving

Men's 3m Springboard:

* Pentti Koskinen — 336.99 points (15th place)

Women's 3m Springboard:

* Laura Kivelä — 236.25 points (24th place)

Women's 10m Platform:

* Laura Kivelä — 172.65 points (22nd place)

## Fencing

One fencer represented Finland in 1972.

### Men's épée

* Risto Hurme

## Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented Finland in 1972, with them winning bronze in the team event.

Men's Individual Competition:

* Risto Hurme — 5094 points (→ 8th place)
* Veikko Salminen — 4852 points (→ 17th place)
* Martti Ketelä — 4849 points (→ 19th place)

Men's Team Competition:

* Hurme, Salminen, and Ketelä — 14812 points (→ Bronze Medal)

## Rowing

Men's Coxed Pairs

* Leo Ahonen, Leif Anderson and Antero Yli-lkkelä
   * Heat — 8:06.56
   * Repechage — 8:11.89 (→ did not advance)

## Shooting

Ten male shooters represented Finland in 1972.

### 25 m pistol

* Immo Huhtinen
* Seppo Mäkinen

### 50 m pistol

* Seppo Irjala
* Immo Huhtinen

### 300 m rifle, three positions

* Jaakko Minkkinen
* Osmo Ala-Honkola

### 50 m rifle, three positions

* Esa Kervinen
* Jaakko Minkkinen

### 50 m rifle, prone

* Jaakko Asikainen
* Esa Kervinen

### 50 m running target

* Pekka Suomela
* Paavo Mikkonen

### Skeet

* Ari Westergård
