Mikko Yrjö Ilmari Kolehmainen (born 18 August 1964 in
Mikkeli
Mikkeli (; ; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, city in, and the regional capital of, South Savo, Finland, located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population is approximately , while the Mikkeli sub-region of Southern Savonia has a populat ...
) is a
Finnish canoe sprint
Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race in specially designed sprint canoes or sprint kayaks on calm water over a short distance. Prior to November 2008, canoe sprint was known as flatwater racing. The term is still in use today ...
er who competed from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Competing in four
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
, he won the gold medal in the K-1 500 m event at
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
in
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
.
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
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
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
Zsolt Gyulai (born 12 September 1964) is a Hungarian sprint canoeist. He competed at 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics and won four medals: two gold (1988: K-1 500 m, K-4 1000 m) and two silver (1992: K-1 500 m, K-4 1000 m). He also won fourteen me ...
of
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
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
world championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
K-1 500 m title in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
. 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
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1964 births
Living people
Sportspeople 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 for Finland
Olympic gold medalists for Finland
Olympic medalists in canoeing
ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
20th-century Finnish sportsmen
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