Tuija Helander (born 23 May 1961) is a Finnish former

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

. She finished seventh in the

400m hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...

final at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, and fifth in the 400m hurdles final at the 1987 World Championships, in a career-best time of 54.62 secs. Between 1977 and 1990, Helander won the Finnish 400m hurdles title 10 times and also won the 400m title in 1985 and 1987. From 1987, she competed under her then married name of Tuija Helander-Kuusisto.

International competitions

References

1961 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Finnish female hurdlers Olympic athletes for Finland World Athletics Championships athletes for Finland Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Finnish sportswomen Finnish Athletics Championships winners {{Finland-athletics-bio-stub