Ritva Kaija Hannele Melender (née Lemettinen, born 9 September 1960 in Ylistaro) is a retired female marathon runner from Finland. She represented Finland at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, finishing in 14th place in the women's marathon. She twice won the Chicago Marathon, in 1993 and 1995. Her personal best time is 2:28:00 set at the London Marathon in 1995. This also stood as the Finnish national record until 2023.
Achievements Representing 1990European Championships Split, SFR Yugoslavia9thMarathon2:39.421991Honolulu Marathon Honolulu, Hawaii 1stMarathon2:40:111992Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain14thMarathon2:41:481993World Championships Stuttgart, Germany18thMarathon2:45:05Chicago Marathon Chicago, United States1stMarathon2:33:181994European Championships Helsinki, Finland6thMarathon2:33.051995Chicago Marathon Chicago, United States1stMarathon2:28:27World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden5thMarathon2:31:19
References
sports-reference