Finland at the 1972 Summer Olympics
IOC code	FIN
NOC	Finnish Olympic Committee
Website	sport.fi/olympiakomitea (in Finnish and Swedish)
in Munich, West Germany  August 26-September 10, 1972
Competitors	96 (89 men and 7 women) in 16 sports
Flag bearer	Ilkka Nummisto
Medals Ranked 14th	Gold 3 Silver 1 Bronze 4 Total 8
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Finland competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 96 competitors, 89 men and 7 women, took part in 75 events in 16 sports.^[1]

Medalists

Finland finished in 14th position in the final medal rankings, with three gold medals and eight medals overall.

Gold

• Pekka Vasala — Athletics, Men's 1,500m
• Lasse Virén — Athletics, Men's 5,000m
• Lasse Virén — Athletics, Men's 10,000m

Silver

• Reima Virtanen — Boxing, Men's Middleweight

Bronze

• Tapio Kantanen — Athletics, Men's 3,000m Steeplechase
• Kyösti Laasonen — Archery, Men's Individual Competition
• Risto Hurme, Veikko Salminen, and Martti Ketelä — Modern Pentathlon, Men's Team Competition
• Risto Björlin — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Bantamweight

Archery

In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, Finland entered three men. They won a bronze medal.

Men's Individual Competition:

• Kyösti Laasonen — 2467 points (→ Bronze Medal)
• Olavi Laurila — 2372 points (→ 20th place)
• Jorma Sandelin — 2278 points (→ 40th place)

Athletics

Men's 100 metres

• Antti Rajamäki
  • First Heat — 10.52s (→ did not advance)
• Raimo Vilen
  • First Heat — 11.00s (→ did not advance)

Men's 1500 metres

• Pekka Vasala
  • Heat — 3:40.9
  • Semifinals — 3:37.9
  • Final — 3:36.3 (→ Gold Medal)
• Pekka Päivärinta
  • Heat — 3:40.9
  • Semifinals — 3:45.1 (→ did not advance)

Men's 5000 metres

• Tapio Kantanen
  • Heat — 13:42.0 (→ did not advance)

Men's 4 × 100 m Relay

• Antti Rajamäki, Raimo Vilen, Erik Gustafsson, and Markku Juhola
  • Heat — 39.54s
  • Semifinals — 39.30s (NR) (→ did not advance)

Boxing

Men's Light Middleweight (– 71 kg)

• Mikko Saarinen
  • First Round — Bye
  • Second Round — Defeated David Attan (KEN), TKO-2
  • Third Round — Lost to Peter Tiepold (GDR), 0:5

Canoeing

Cycling

Six cyclists represented Finland in 1972.

Individual road race

• Harry Hannus — did not finish (→ no ranking)
• Mauno Uusivirta — did not finish (→ no ranking)
• Tapani Vuorenhela — did not finish (→ no ranking)
• Ole Wackström — did not finish (→ no ranking)

Team time trial

• Kalevi Eskelinen
• Harry Hannus
• Mauno Uusivirta
• Ole Wackström

Team individual pursuit

• Raimo Suikkanen

Diving

Men's 3m Springboard:

• Pentti Koskinen — 336.99 points (15th place)

Women's 3m Springboard:

• Laura Kivelä — 236.25 points (24th place)

Women's 10m Platform:

• Laura Kivelä — 172.65 points (22nd place)

Fencing

One fencer represented Finland in 1972.

Men's épée

• Risto Hurme

Gymnastics

Judo

Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented Finland in 1972, with them winning bronze in the team event.

Men's Individual Competition:

• Risto Hurme — 5094 points (→ 8th place)
• Veikko Salminen — 4852 points (→ 17th place)
• Martti Ketelä — 4849 points (→ 19th place)

Men's Team Competition:

• Hurme, Salminen, and Ketelä — 14812 points (→ Bronze Medal)

Rowing

Men's Coxed Pairs

• Leo Ahonen, Leif Anderson and Antero Yli-lkkelä
  • Heat — 8:06.56
  • Repechage — 8:11.89 (→ did not advance)

Sailing

Shooting

Ten male shooters represented Finland in 1972.

25 m pistol

• Immo Huhtinen
• Seppo Mäkinen

50 m pistol

• Seppo Irjala
• Immo Huhtinen

300 m rifle, three positions

• Jaakko Minkkinen
• Osmo Ala-Honkola

50 m rifle, three positions

• Esa Kervinen
• Jaakko Minkkinen

50 m rifle, prone

• Jaakko Asikainen
• Esa Kervinen

50 m running target

• Pekka Suomela
• Paavo Mikkonen

Skeet

• Ari Westergård

Swimming

Weightlifting

Wrestling