Mikko Yrjö Ilmari Kolehmainen (born 18 August 1964 in

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34, ...

) is a

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sprint canoer who competed from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Competing in four

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

, he won the gold medal in the K-1 500 m event at

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1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

. Kolehmainen's victory was Finland's only gold medal at those games. By now established as Finland's strongest kayak sprinter, he concentrated in the K-1 500 m discipline. Although a respected competitor at international regattas he never really threatened the top paddlers for the major prizes. At the 1991 World Championships in

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he finished a creditable seventh. It was therefore a major shock when, at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, he won the K-1 500 m gold medal. His victory over reigning champion Zsolt Gyulay of

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gave Finland their only gold medal of an otherwise disappointing Games. A year later he showed that his Barcelona performance was no fluke by winning the

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K-1 500 m title in

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. At his farewell Olympics, in Atlanta in 1996 he finished in seventh place, and carried the flag at the opening ceremony.

References

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External links

* 1964 births Living people People from Mikkeli Canoeists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Finnish male canoeists Olympic canoeists of Finland Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in canoeing ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from South Savo {{Finland-Olympic-medalist-stub