Finland competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Finnish athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games since the nation's official debut in 1908.
The Finnish Olympic Committee () sent a team of 54 athletes, 26 men and 28 women, to compete in 15 sports at the Games. The nation's full roster also achieved a historic milestone, as the number of female athletes outnumbered the men for the first time. Among the sports represented by its athletes, Finland made its Olympic debut in golf (new to the 2016 Games), table tennis, and women's wrestling, as well as its return to archery, boxing, equestrian eventing, and rhythmic gymnastics after long years of absence.
The Finnish team featured four past Olympic medalists returning to the Games: Beijing 2008 women's trap champion Satu Mäkelä-Nummela, the oldest competitor of the roster (aged 43), javelin throwers Tero Pitkämäki and Antti Ruuskanen (both won bronze in 2008 and 2012, respectively), and windsurfer Tuuli Petäjä-Sirén (silver, 2012), who was appointed by the committee to carry the Finnish flag by a female for the second time in the opening ceremony. Despite swimming only in the medley relay, Hanna-Maria Seppälä set a record as the first ever Finnish female athlete to participate in five consecutive Olympic Games. Other notable competitors on the Finnish roster included the country's fastest freestyle swimmer Ari-Pekka Liukkonen, sailing brothers Joonas and Niklas Lindgren in the 470 class, and hammer thrower David Söderberg.
Finland left Rio de Janeiro with only a bronze medal, won by boxer Mira Potkonen in the women's lightweight event, conquered on the 12th day of the Games, when virtually all other Finnish athletes had ended their participation. This lone medal prevented the country for the first time in the history of the Summer Games from finishing without any medal in an edition, but it consolidated the worst performance in Finnish history at the Games. Several Finnish athletes reached the finals of their respective events including Ruuskanen (sixth, javelin throw), Söderberg (eighth, hammer throw), and sailor Tuula Tenkanen (fifth, Laser Radial).
Medalists
Medal Name Sport Event Date Boxing Women's lightweight
Archery
One Finnish archer has qualified for the men's individual recurve at the Games by securing one of three available Olympic spots at the 2016 European Championships in Nottingham, Great Britain, signifying the nation's comeback to the sport after an eight-year hiatus. Meanwhile, another Finnish archer was added to the squad by virtue of a top six national finish in the women's individual recurve at the 2016 Archery World Cup meet in Antalya, Turkey.
AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankSamuli PiippoMen's individual63654L 0–6Did not advanceTaru KuoppaWomen's individual64314L 3–7Did not advance
Athletics
Finnish athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event): Four of them, led by two Olympic bronze medalists Tero Pitkämäki (2008) and Antti Ruuskanen (2012) in the men's javelin throw, had been selected to the Olympic team during the initial nomination stages (October and December 2015), while the majority of the Finnish track and field team was announced at the end of March and the third week of July 2016.
Track & road events Men AthleteEventHeat SemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankOskari Mörö400 m hurdles49.04 NR4 q49.757Did not advanceJarkko Kinnunen50 km walkcolspan=4 3:55:4322Aleksi Ojalacolspan=4 Aku Partanencolspan=4
Women AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankSandra Eriksson3000 m steeplechase9:56.7715colspan=2 Did not advanceAnne-Mari HyryläinenMarathoncolspan=4 2:39:0251Nooralotta Neziri100 m hurdles12.883 Q13.046Did not advance
Field events Men AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionAri MannioJavelin throw77.7327Did not advanceTero Pitkämäki79.5621Did not advanceAntti Ruuskanen82.2011 q83.056David SöderbergHammer throw74.647 q74.618
Women AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionKristiina MäkeläTriple jump14.24 PB5 q13.9512Wilma MurtoPole vault4.3024Did not advanceMinna Nikkanen4.5513Did not advanceLinda SandblomHigh jump1.8926Did not advanceSanni UtriainenJavelin throw53.4231Did not advance
Badminton
Finland has qualified one badminton player for the women's singles into the Olympic tournament. Nanna Vainio had claimed her Olympic spot as one of top 34 individual shuttlers in the BWF World Rankings as of 5 May 2016.
AthleteEventGroup StageEliminationQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankNanna VainioWomen's singlesL 6–21, 4–21L 9–21, 8–213Did not advance
Boxing
Finland has entered one boxer to compete in the women's lightweight division into the Olympic boxing tournament, signifying the nation's comeback to the sport since 2000. Mira Potkonen had claimed her Olympic spot with a quarterfinal victory at the World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.
AthleteEventRound of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankMira PotkonenWomen's lightweightW 2–1W 2–1L 0–3Did not advance
Cycling
Road Finland has qualified one rider in the women's Olympic road race by virtue of a top 22 national finish in the 2016 UCI World Rankings.
AthleteEventTimeRankLotta LepistöWomen's road raceDid not finishWomen's time trial47:06.5217
Equestrian
Finland has entered one eventing rider into the Olympic equestrian competition by virtue of a top finish from North Western Europe in the individual FEI Olympic rankings, signifying the nation's Olympic comeback to the sporting discipline for the first time since 2000.
Eventing AthleteHorseEventDressageCross-countryJumpingTotalQualifierFinalPenaltiesRankPenaltiesTotalRankPenaltiesTotalRankPenaltiesTotalRankPenaltiesRankElmo JankariDuchess DésiréeIndividual48.003742.8090.802810.00100.8031Did not advance100.8031
Golf
Finland has entered four golfers (two per gender) into the Olympic tournament. Mikko Ilonen (world no. 235), Roope Kakko (world no. 293), Noora Tamminen (world no. 274), and Ursula Wikström (world no. 256) qualified directly among the top 60 eligible players for their respective individual events based on the IGF World Rankings as of 11 July 2016.
AthleteEventRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4TotalScoreScoreScoreScoreScoreParRankMikko IlonenMen's73696673281−3=21Roope Kakko72766870286 +2=43Noora TamminenWomen's73767274295 +11=48Ursula Wikström69718173294 +10=44
Gymnastics
Artistic Finland has entered one artistic gymnast into the Olympic competition. Oskar Kirmes had claimed his Olympic spot in the men's apparatus and all-around events at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.
Men AthleteEventQualificationFinalApparatusTotalRankApparatusTotalRankOskar KirmesAll-around14.93314.00013.83314.20013.89113.26684.12335Did not advance
Rhythmic For the first time since 2000, Finland has qualified one rhythmic gymnast in the individual all-around for the Games by claiming one of eight available Olympic spots at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.
AthleteEventQualificationFinalHoopBallClubsRibbonTotalRankHoopBallClubsRibbonTotalRankEkaterina VolkovaIndividual16.91616.96617.00016.63367.51521Did not advance
Judo
Finland has qualified one judoka for the men's extra-lightweight category (60 kg) at the Games. Juho Reinvall earned a continental quota spot from the European region as the highest-ranked Finnish judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016.
AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechageFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankJuho ReinvallMen's −60 kgL 000–011Did not advance
Sailing
Finnish sailors have qualified one boat in each of the following classes through the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships, the individual fleet Worlds, and European qualifying regattas.
On 13 October 2015, the Finnish Olympic Committee had officially announced the first five sailors competing in the Finn, Laser Radial, men's 470, and women's RS:X at the Rio regatta. 2010 Youth Olympian and Laser sailor Kaarle Tapper was named to the Finnish team on 27 April 2016, while the women's 470 and 49er crews rounded out the selection at the ISAF World Cup meet (26 April to 1 May) in Hyères, France.
Men AthleteEventRaceNet pointsFinal rank12345678910MKaarle TapperLaser32123129271817112319EL18726Tapio NirkkoFinn2071553242021610EL10715Joonas LindgrenNiklas Lindgren470201123182419310910EL12316
Women AthleteEventRaceNet pointsFinal rank123456789101112MTuuli Petäjä-SirénRS:X498595273121068209910Tuula TenkanenLaser Radial4162143138214colspan=2 1886.65Noora RuskolaCamilla Cedercreutz49erFX71216132115141514102018EL15417 M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race; overstrike indicates excluded score
Shooting
Finnish shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2014 and 2015 ISSF World Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and European Championships or Games, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying standard (MQS) by 31 March 2016.
AthleteEventQualificationSemifinalFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRankVesa TörnroosMen's trap11611Did not advanceSatu Mäkelä-NummelaWomen's trap6610Did not advance
Swimming
Finnish swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):
On 9 December 2015, the Finnish Olympic Committee had announced the first three swimmers (Liukkonen, Mattsson, and Laukkanen), who had achieved the A-cut times in their respective events, to compete in the Olympic pool, while US-based college swimmers Matias Koski and Tanja Kylliäinen joined the roster four months later.
Men AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankMatias Koski200 m freestyle1:47.4021Did not advance400 m freestyle3:55.5742colspan=2 Did not advanceAri-Pekka Liukkonen50 m freestyle22.2523Did not advance100 m freestyle50.1442Did not advanceMatti Mattsson100 m breaststroke1:02.4538Did not advance200 m breaststroke2:10.4911 Q2:12.9916Did not advance
Women AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankMimosa Jallow100 m backstroke1:01.5824Did not advanceJenna Laukkanen100 m breaststroke1:07.35 NR18Did not advance200 m breaststroke2:25.5214 Q2:25.14 NR14Did not advanceTanja Kylliäinen200 m individual medley2:14.9725Did not advance400 m individual medley4:45.33 NR25colspan=2 Did not advanceMimosa JallowJenna LaukkanenEmilia PikkarainenHanna-Maria Seppälä4 × 100 m medley relay4:01.6111colspan=2 Did not advance
Table tennis
Finland has entered one athlete for the first time into the Olympic table tennis competition. Benedek Oláh granted an invitation from ITTF to compete in the men's singles as one of the next seven highest-ranked eligible players, not yet qualified, on the Olympic Ranking List.
AthleteEventPreliminaryRound 1Round 2Round 3Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankBenedek OláhMen's singlesW 4–1L 0–4Did not advance
Taekwondo
Finland entered one athlete into the taekwondo competition at the Olympics. 2012 Olympian Suvi Mikkonen secured a spot in the women's lightweight category (57 kg) by virtue of her top two finish at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey.