Matti Heikkinen (born 19 December 1983 in
Kajaani
Kajaani (; ), is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Kainuu. Kajaani is located southeast of Oulujärvi, Lake Oulu, which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulujoki, Oulu River. The population of Kajaani is approximately , w ...
) is a Finnish former
cross-country skier and World Champion who competed from 2002 to 2019.
Career
Heikkinen won his first World Championship at the
in Holmenkollen 2011. Winning 15 km, he is the first Finnish men's World Champion for over a decade. He also won two bronze medals at the
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 () took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in the Czech Republic or in Czechoslovakia, having done so at J ...
in
Liberec
Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...
, earning them in the 15 km and 4 × 10 km relay events.
In December 2009, Heikkinen took his first
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 name is ...
victory on the 15 km freestyle event in
Davos
Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...
.
Heikkinen finished fifth in the 4 × 10 km relay at the
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...
in
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, Canada.
He announced his retirement from cross-country skiing in March 2019.
Heikkinen lives in
Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...
and studies at the
University of Jyväskylä
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". U ...
School of Business.
Cross-country skiing results
All results are sourced from the
International Ski Federation (FIS).
Olympic Games
World Championships
* 4 medals – (1 gold, 3 bronze)
World Cup
Season standings
Individual podiums
*4 victories – (1 , 3 )
*15 podiums – (5 , 10 )
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heikkinen, Matti
1983 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Kajaani
Skiers from Kainuu
Finnish male cross-country skiers
Olympic cross-country skiers for Finland
Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Cross-country skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Tour de Ski skiers
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing
21st-century Finnish sportsmen