Marjo Matikainen
(IOC)
Updated: 2007-07-26 20:52
14 February 1988: Marjo MATIKAINEN of Finland in action during the women's 10km cross country skiing competition at the XV Olympic Winter Games held in Calgary. She won the bronze medal with a time of 30:20.5 minutes. Credit: Getty Images/Mike Powell
Born: 3 February 1965
Birthplace: Lohja (Finland)
Nationality: Finland
Sport: Skiing
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Sarajevo 1984
Calgary 1988
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 1
Bronze: 3
Other results:
World Championships
Gold: 3 (87, 89)
Silver: 2 (87, 89)
Bronze: 2 (89)
Using Every Gram of Energy
In 1984, at the Sarajevo Games, Marjo Matikainen won a bronze medal in the 4x5km relay when she was only 19 years old. Four years later at the Calgary Games, she gained another bronze medal in the 10km race. In the 5km contest, she moved ahead of Tamara Tikhonova's pace after four kilometres and then used every bit of her remaining strength to push herself across the finish line 1.3 seconds faster than Tikhonova, before collapsing. Matikainen earned a third bronze medal, this time in the 1988 relay and then retired at the age of 23 in order to pursue her academic studies. She was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and distinguished herself as an anti-tobacco activist.
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