Finland

Finland (Finnish: Suomi) is a Nordic country in Northern Europe bordered by Sweden to the west, Norway to the north and Russia to the east; Estonia lies to the south across the Gulf of Finland. Finland is part of the geographic region of Scandinavia.

In 2013, Finland's population was around 5.5 million, with the majority living in its southern regions. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 317 municipalities and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, which produces a third of the country's GDP. Other large cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti, and Kuopio.

Tourism

There are many attractions in Finland which attracted over 8 million visitors in 2013.The Finnish landscape is covered with thick pine forests, rolling hills and complemented with a labyrinth of lakes and inlets. Much of Finland is pristine and virgin as it contains 37 national parks from the Southern shores of the Gulf of Finland to the high fells of Lapland. It is also an urbanised region with many cultural events and activities. Above the Arctic Circle, in midwinter, there is a polar night, a period when the sun does not rise for days or weeks, or even months, and correspondingly, midnight sun in the summer, with no sunset even at midnight. Lapland is so far north that the Aurora Borealis, fluorescence in the high atmosphere due to solar wind, is seen regularly in the fall, winter and spring. Outdoor activities range from Nordic skiing, golf, fishing, yachting, lake cruises, hiking, kayaking among many others. At Finland's northernmost point, in the heart of summer, the Sun does not completely set for 73 consecutive days. Wildlife is abundant in Finland. Bird-watching is popular for those fond of avifauna, however hunting is also popular. Elk and hare are common game in Finland.

Sport

Various sporting events are popular in Finland. Pesäpallo, resembling baseball, is the national sport of Finland, although the most popular sports in terms of spectators are ice hockey, athletics, cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Formula One. In terms of medals and gold medals won per capita, Finland is the best performing country in Olympic history.

Finland was one of the most successful countries at the Olympic Games before World War II. At the 1924 Summer Olympics, Finland, a nation then of only 3.2 million people, came second in the medal count. In the 1920s and 1930s, Finnish long-distance runners dominated the Olympics, with Paavo Nurmi winning a total of nine Olympic gold medals. Nurmi is often considered the greatest Finnish sportsman and one of the greatest athletes of all time. For over 100 years, Finnish male and female athletes have consistently excelled at the javelin throw. The event has brought Finland nine Olympic gold medals, five world championships, five European championships and 24 world records. Especially since the 2014 Basketball World Cup, Finland's national basketball team received widespread public attention. More than 8,000 Finns travelled to Spain to support their team.

Wrestling in Finland

Wrestling is called in Finnish as “Paini” and the Wrestling Federation “Soumen Painiliitto”. The wrestling association manages over one hundred clubs with 12,800 members (4600 of them with an active competition license) .In previous years, the Finnish athletes played internationally a good role in greco / roman style, but now the Eastern European nations have taken the leadership in the wrestling sport.

 
Two former finnish world Class wrestlers Marko Yli-Hannuksela (left) and Marko Assel.

International Situation

Since there are international championships in wrestling, the Finns were medal contenders

at least in Greek / Roman style. Total Finnish wrestler could 400 medals at World and European Championships and Olympic Games win. The last few years have the success waned more and more. Marko Yli-Hannuksela was the last Finnish world-class wrestler. In 1997 he became world champion in the welterweight (74kg) and won two Olympic medals (bronze in Sydney 2000 and silver in Athens four years later). For the last two Olympic Games in Beijing and London succeeded only two Finnish athletes to fight for a starting place. The medals had to be left to other nations. In the nineties Finnish wrestlers were also strongly represented in the German Bundesliga, but here their presence lately has fallen sharply. In 2014, Vantaa was the hosting city ot the European Championships. Supported by a home crowd succeeded Petra Olli to win a bronze medal and middleweights Rami Hientaniemi won silver in Greco-Roman wrestling.

 
Rami Hientaniemi won a silver medal at European Championsships 2014                                                   Juha Lappalainen is now the head coach of the national team.

National Situation

• The first wrestling club, Helsingin Atleettiklubi (HAK) was founded in 1891
• The first Finnish Championship was held on 23 October 1898
• The Wrestling section was founded on 10 May 1910
• Finnish Wrestling Federation was founded on 11 October 1931
• Finnish wrestlers have won 420 medals over the years in the Olympic Games, World and European Championships
• Nowadays we have 105 wrestling clubs
• The president of our federation is Mr Jukka Rauhala. He won the bronze medal in FS 68 kg at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The best Wrestling Clubs in Finland:

Ilmajoen Kisilijaat
Oulun Pyrinto
Peräseinäjoen Toive
Ylä-Tikkurilan Kipinä
Vaasan Toverit
Helsingin Haka
Haukiputaan Heitto
Järvenpään Voimailijat
Helsingin Tarmo
Koovee Tampere