Finland at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Finland competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Finland at the 1998 Winter Olympics
IOC code	FIN
NOC	Finnish Olympic Committee
Website	sport.fi/olympiakomitea (in Finnish and Swedish)
in Nagano
Competitors	85 (51 men, 34 women) in 10 sports
Flag bearer	Janne Ahonen (ski jumping)
Medals Ranked 11th	Gold 2 Silver 4 Bronze 6 Total 12
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Mika Myllylä	Cross-country skiing	Men's 30 km (classical)	9 February
Gold	Jani Soininen	Ski jumping	Men's normal hill (K90 70 m)	11 February
Silver	Janne Lahtela	Freestyle skiing	Men's moguls	11 February
Silver	Samppa Lajunen	Nordic combined	Men's individual	14 February
Silver	Samppa Lajunen Hannu Manninen Jari Mantila Tapio Nurmela	Nordic combined	Men's team	20 February
Silver	Jani Soininen	Ski jumping	Men's large hill (K120 90 m)	15 February
Bronze	Ville Räikkönen	Biathlon	Men's 10 km sprint	18 February
Bronze	Mika Myllylä	Cross-country skiing	Men's 10 km (classical)	12 February
Bronze	Jari Isometsä Harri Kirvesniemi Mika Myllylä Sami Repo	Cross-country skiing	Men's 4 × 10 km relay	18 February
Bronze	Sami Mustonen	Freestyle skiing	Men's moguls	11 February
Bronze	Finland men's national ice hockey team Aki-Petteri Berg Tuomas Grönman Raimo Helminen Sami Kapanen Saku Koivu Jari Kurri Janne Laukkanen Antti Törmänen Jere Lehtinen Juha Lind Jyrki Lumme Jarmo Myllys Mika Nieminen Janne Niinimaa Teppo Numminen Juha Ylönen Ville Peltonen Kimmo Rintanen Teemu Selänne Ari Sulander Jukka Tammi Esa Tikkanen Kimmo Timonen	Ice hockey	Men's competition	21 February
Bronze	Finland women's national ice hockey team Sari Fisk Kirsi Hänninen Satu Huotari Marianne Ihalainen Johanna Ikonen Sari Krooks Emma Laaksonen Sanna Lankosaari Katja Lehto Marika Lehtimäki Marja-Helena Pälvilä Tuula Puputti Karoliina Rantamäki Katja Riipi Päivi Salo Maria Selin Liisa-Maria Sneck Petra Vaarakallio Riikka Nieminen Tiia Reima	Ice hockey	Women's competition	17 February

Alpine skiing

Main article: Alpine skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Race 1	Race 2	Total
		Time	Time	Time	Rank
Mika Marila	Giant Slalom	DNF	–	DNF	–
Kalle Palander		1:24.02	DNF	DNF	–
Sami Uotila		1:23.43	1:20.02	2:43.45	19
Sami Uotila	Slalom	DNF	–	DNF	–
Mika Marila		DNF	–	DNF	–
Kalle Palander		56.37	55.44	1:51.81	9

Men's combined

Athlete	Slalom		Downhill	Total
	Time 1	Time 2	Time	Total time	Rank
Kalle Palander	DNF	–	–	DNF	–

Women

Athlete	Event	Race 1	Race 2	Total
		Time	Time	Time	Rank
Henna Raita	Giant Slalom	DNF	–	DNF	–
Tanja Poutiainen		1:24.90	1:36.76	3:01.66	26
Tanja Poutiainen	Slalom	48.06	49.45	1:37.51	18
Henna Raita		47.18	DNF	DNF	–

Biathlon

Main article: Biathlon at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Misses ^1	Time	Rank
10 km Sprint	Harri Eloranta	2	29:21.8	20
	Paavo Puurunen	0	28:44.0	9
	Ville Räikkönen	1	28:21.7

Event	Athlete	Time	Misses	Adjusted time ^2	Rank
20 km	Vesa Hietalahti	DNF	–	DNF	–
	Ville Räikkönen	57:25.3	3	1'00:25.3	27
	Paavo Puurunen	57:11.7	3	1'00:11.7	23

Men's 4 × 7.5 km relay

Athletes	Race
	Misses ^1	Time	Rank
Ville Räikkönen Paavo Puurunen Harri Eloranta Olli-Pekka Peltola	2	1'25:01.4	8

Women

Event	Athlete	Misses ^1	Time	Rank
7.5 km Sprint	Katja Holanti	2	25:46.2	46
	Mari Lampinen	0	23:55.2	8

Event	Athlete	Time	Misses	Adjusted time ^2	Rank
15 km	Katja Holanti	58:50.9	3	1'01:50.9	45
	Mari Lampinen	55:55.2	5	1'00:55.2	32

¹ A penalty loop of 150 metres had to be skied per missed target.

² One minute added per missed target.

Cross-country skiing

Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
10 km C	Sami Repo	28:51.3	18
	Jari Isometsä	28:36.7	15
	Harri Kirvesniemi	28:22.5	13
	Mika Myllylä	27:40.1
15 km pursuit^1 F	Sami Repo	42:38.9	20
	Jari Isometsä	40:55.4	8
	Mika Myllylä	40:26.6	6
30 km C	Sami Repo	1'42:16.8	34
	Harri Kirvesniemi	1'37:45.9	6
	Jari Isometsä	1'36:51.4	4
	Mika Myllylä	1;33:55.8
50 km F	Juha Alm	2'25:00.2	54

¹ Starting delay based on 10 km results.

C = Classical style, F = Freestyle

Men's 4 × 10 km relay

Athletes	Race
	Time	Rank
Harri Kirvesniemi Mika Myllylä Sami Repo Jari Isometsä	1'42:15.5

Women

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
5 km C	Kati Pulkkinen	19:48.0	57
	Anita Nyman	19:45.0	56
	Satu Salonen	18:43.4	18
	Tuulikki Pyykkönen	18:42.8	17
10 km pursuit^2 F	Kati Pulkkinen	33:43.5	51
	Anita Nyman	32:53.7	44
	Satu Salonen	30:32.0	16
15 km C	Kati Sundqvist-Venäläinen	52:14.1	41
	Milla Jauho	51:38.6	31
	Satu Salonen	49:27.6	18
	Tuulikki Pyykkönen	49:13.5	12
30 km F	Milla Jauho	1'35:39.2	50

² Starting delay based on 5 km results.

C = Classical style, F = Freestyle

Women's 4 × 5 km relay

Athletes	Race
	Time	Rank
Tuulikki Pyykkönen Milla Jauho Satu Salonen Anita Nyman	57:34.3	7

Figure skating

Main article: Figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Women

Athlete	SP	FS	TFP	Rank
Alisa Drei	20	19	29.0	21

Freestyle skiing

Main article: Freestyle skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Qualification			Final
		Time	Points	Rank	Time	Points	Rank
Lauri Lassila	Moguls	29.03	24.53	9 Q	26.17	25.43	5
Sami Mustonen		27.47	25.16	3 Q	26.77	25.76
Janne Lahtela		27.58	25.43	2 Q	25.30	26.00

Women

Athlete	Event	Qualification			Final
		Time	Points	Rank	Time	Points	Rank
Minna Karhu	Moguls	35.40	22.39	10 Q	33.65	23.83	6

Ice hockey

Main article: Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Men's tournament

Main article: Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament

First Round - Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Canada	3	3	0	0	12	3	+9	6	Quarterfinals
2	Sweden	3	2	0	1	11	7	+4	4
3	United States	3	1	0	2	8	10	−2	2
4	Belarus	3	0	0	3	4	15	−11	0

Source: Olympedia

All times are local (UTC-7).

13 February 1998

Czech Republic

3 – 0 (0-0, 0-1, 0-2)

Finland

The Big Hat/ Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan Attendance: 5,050

15 February 1998

Russia

4 – 3 (2-1, 1-2, 0-1)

Finland

The Big Hat/ Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan Attendance: 9,894

16 February 1998

Finland

8 – 2 (1-3, 0-1, 1-4)

Kazakhstan

The Big Hat/ Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan Attendance: 5,544

Quarter-final

All times are local (UTC-7).

18 February 1998

Finland

2 – 1 (0-0, 0-0, 2-1)

Sweden

The Big Hat/ Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan Attendance: 5,044

Semi-final

All times are local (UTC-7).

20 February 1998

Finland

4 – 7 (0-2, 3-2, 1-3)

Russia

The Big Hat/ Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan Attendance: N/A

Bronze Medal Game

All times are local (UTC-7).

21 February 1998

Finland

3 – 2 (2-1, 0-1, 1-0)

Canada

The Big Hat/ Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan Attendance: 9,875

Leading scorers

Rank	Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1st	Teemu Selänne	5	4	6	10	8
2nd	Saku Koivu	6	2	8	10	4
8th	Jere Lehtinen	6	4	2	6	2

Team roster

• Head Coach:   Hannu Aravirta

Pos.	No.	Name	1997-98 team
G	30	Jukka Tammi	Frankfurt Lions
G	31	Ari Sulander	Jokerit
G	35	Jarmo Myllys	Luleå HF
D	4	Kimmo Timonen	HIFK
D	5	Aki-Petteri Berg	Los Angeles Kings
D	6	Tuomas Grönman	Pittsburgh Penguins
D	12	Janne Laukkanen	Ottawa Senators
D	21	Jyrki Lumme	Vancouver Canucks
D	27	Teppo Numminen	Phoenix Coyotes
D	44	Janne Niinimaa	Philadelphia Flyers
F	8	Teemu Selänne	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
F	10	Esa Tikkanen	Florida Panthers
F	11	Saku Koivu	Montreal Canadiens
F	14	Raimo Helminen	Ilves
F	15	Antti Törmänen	Jokerit
F	16	Ville Peltonen	Västra Frölunda HC
F	17	Jari Kurri	Colorado Avalanche
F	19	Juha Lind	Dallas Stars
F	20	Jere Lehtinen	Dallas Stars
F	24	Sami Kapanen	Carolina Hurricanes
F	25	Kimmo Rintanen	TPS
F	37	Juha Ylönen	Phoenix Coyotes
F	40	Mika Nieminen	Jokerit

^[1][2]

Women's tournament

Main article: Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament

Group stage

The First 4 teams (shaded green) advanced to medal round games.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	5	5	0	0	33	7	+26	10	Gold medal game
2	Canada	5	4	0	1	28	12	+16	8
3	Finland	5	3	0	2	27	10	+17	6	Bronze medal game
4	China	5	2	0	3	10	15	−5	4
5	Sweden	5	1	0	4	10	21	−11	2
6	Japan (H)	5	0	0	5	2	45	−43	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(H) Hosts

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Sweden	0–6	Finland
Finland	11–1	Japan
United States	4–2	Finland
Finland	2–4	Canada
Finland	6–1	China

Bronze Medal Game

17 February
	Finland	4 – 1	China		Big Hat (7,412)
		First period			Ref:   Laurie Taylor-Boulton
			Yang X. 9:27
		Second period
	S. Fisk (R. Nieminen, K. Lehto) 3:07
	J. Ikonen (P. Vaarakallio, K. Rantamäki) 7:08
	S. Lankosaari (K. Riipi, S. Krooks) 10:15
		Third period
	R. Nieminen (M. Lehtimäki) (en) 19:52
		Game stats

Bronze:	Finland	Sari Fisk Kirsi Hänninen Satu Huotari Marianne Ihalainen Johanna Ikonen Sari Krooks Emma Laaksonen Sanna Lankosaari Katja Lehto Marika Lehtimäki Riikka Nieminen Marja-Helena Pälvilä Tuula Puputti Karoliina Rantamäki Tiia Reima Katja Riipi Päivi Salo Maria Selin Liisa-Maria Sneck Petra Vaarakallio

Nordic combined

Main article: Nordic combined at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Men's individual

Events:

• normal hill ski jumping
• 15 km cross-country skiing (Start delay, based on ski jumping results.)

Athlete	Event	Ski Jumping		Cross-country time	Total rank
		Points	Rank
Hannu Manninen	Individual	207.0	20	43:51.0	11
Jari Mantila		212.0	17	46:10.6	27
Tapio Nurmela		213.5	14	44:31.6	15
Samppa Lajunen		230.5	6	41:48.6

Men's Team

Four participants per team.

Events:

• normal hill ski jumping
• 5 km cross-country skiing (Start delay, based on ski jumping results.)

Athletes	Ski jumping		Cross-country time	Total rank
	Points	Rank
Samppa Lajunen Jari Mantila Tapio Nurmela Hannu Manninen	906.0	1	55:30.4

Ski jumping

Main article: Ski jumping at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Athlete	Event	Jump 1			Jump 2		Total
		Distance	Points	Rank	Distance	Points	Points	Rank
Mika Laitinen	Normal hill	82.5	100.5	17 Q	81.5	98.5	199.0	20
Ari-Pekka Nikkola		83.0	101.5	15 Q	83.5	104.0	205.5	15
Janne Ahonen		86.5	110.0	8 Q	91.5	121.5	231.5	4
Jani Soininen		90.0	118.5	2 Q	89.0	116.0	234.5
Janne Ahonen	Large hill	106.0	91.3	37	did not advance
Ari-Pekka Nikkola		108.5	94.3	31	did not advance
Mika Laitinen		119.5	114.6	9 Q	115.5	107.9	222.5	18
Jani Soininen		129.5	130.6	3 Q	126.5	130.2	260.8

Men's team large hill

Athletes	Result
	Points ^1	Rank
Ari-Pekka Nikkola Mika Laitinen Janne Ahonen Jani Soininen	833.9	5

¹ Four teams members performed two jumps each.

Snowboarding

Main article: Snowboarding at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Men's halfpipe

Athlete	Qualifying round 1		Qualifying round 2		Final
	Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Sebu Kuhlberg	33.4	23	39.7	4 QF	76.6	7
Aleksi Litovaara	39.0	5 QF			71.9	14
Jussi Oksanen	39.7	3 QF			73.6	11
Markus Hurme	41.1	1 QF			73.0	13

Women's halfpipe

Athlete	Qualifying round 1		Qualifying round 2		Final
	Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Satu Järvelä	31.8	11	32.0	9	did not advance
Minna Hesso	34.2	5	35.1	3 QF	70.8	6

Speed skating

Main article: Speed skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Race 1		Race 2		Total
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
500 m	Janne Hänninen	36.58	17	36.46	19	73.04	18
1000 m	Janne Hänninen					1:12.55	21

References

1. "Finland at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com.
2. "1998 Finnish Olympic roster".

• International Olympic Committee results database