Sylvi Riitta Saimo (née ''Sikiö'', 12 November 1914 – 12 March 2004) was a Finnish sprint canoeist, farmer and politician. She was the first female Finnish Olympic Champion at the

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 ...

, winning a gold medal in K-1 500 m at the 1952 Summer Olympics. She also competed in cross-country skiing, athletics and orienteering. She was a member of the

Finnish Parliament The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

from 1966 to 1978.

Personal life

Saimo was born in the former Finnish municipality of Jaakkima (currently

Lakhdenpokhsky District Lakhdenpokhsky District (russian: Лахденпо́хский райо́н, Finnish and Karelian: Lahdenpohjan piiri) is an administrative district (raion), one of the fifteen in the Republic of Karelia, Russia.Constitution of the Republic of ...

, Russia) on 12 November 1914. She died in

Laukaa Laukaa (; sv, Laukas) is a municipality of Finland. It is located next to Jyväskylä and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The ...

in 2004.

Sports career

Saimo competed in several sports, including skiing, athletics,

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a ...

and canoeing. She won a gold medal in the K-1 500 m event at the 1952 Summer Olympics and finished sixth in 1948. That was first and only gold medal by Finnish woman at Summer Olympics, until

Heli Rantanen Heli Rantanen (born 26 February 1970) is a retired Finnish track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. She was an Olympic Champion, having won gold in 1996. Her winning throw of 67.94 m was more than two metres ahead of the silve ...

won the javelin throw contest in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

. Saimo also won two gold medals at the

1950 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 1950 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Copenhagen, Denmark. This event was held under the International Canoe Federation. The men's competition consisted of four Canadian (single paddle, open boat) and nine kayak events. Two eve ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, earning them in the K-1 500 m and K-2 500 m events (in K-2, jointly with

Greta Grönholm Greta Alexandra Grönholm (8 June 1923 – 12 June 2015) was a Finnish sprint canoer who competed in the early 1950s. She won a gold medal in the K-2 500 m event at the 1950 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Copenhagen Copenha ...

). Other sports achievements include winning a bronze medal at the Finnish championship in orienteering in 1939. In

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...

, she won a bronze medal in the relay at the Finnish championships in 1947, while placing 5th individually in the 10 km distance.

Political career

Saimo was elected representative to the

for the Centre Party from 1966 to 1978.

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saimo, Sylvi 1914 births 2004 deaths People from Lakhdenpokhsky District People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Centre Party (Finland) politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (1966–70) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1970–72) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1972–75) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1975–79) Canoeists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Finnish female canoeists Olympic canoeists of Finland Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in canoeing ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak Finnish sportsperson-politicians Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Personal life

Sports career

Political career

See also

References

External links