Famous Finnish Sportspersons

With 21 Grands Prix wins Kimi-Matias Räikkönen, nicknamed ‘The Iceman’, thrived as the most successful Finnish racing driver with regard to Formula One race wins. He was the winner of the 2007 Formula One World Championship competing for Scuderia Ferrari. He took 103 podium finishes and with this became one of the five drivers who have taken more-than 100 podiums.

The son of former Formula One world champion Keke Rosberg, Nico Rosberg followed in his father's footsteps to win the 2016 Formula One world championship. After announcing his retirement as a racing driver, Nico Rosberg became an eco-entrepreneur, helping with the construction of self-autonomous and electric vehicles. Rosberg has also worked with charities like Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli.

Valtteri Bottas is a Finnish racing driver who competes in popular promotions like Formula One, where he is currently competing for Alfa Romeo. Over the course of his career, Valtteri Bottas has won several prestigious awards like the Sky Sports Award and Lorenzo Bandini Trophy. In 2019, he was named AKK-Motorsport Driver of the Year.

Mika Häkkinen was 5 when his parents got him a go-kart for racing near their home. He later grew up to be one of the 3 Finnish F-1 drivers to earn a World Championship. Noted for his speed, he earned the nickname The Flying Finn.

Teemu Pukki is a Finnish football player who has played for the Finland national team in important tournaments like the UEFA European Football Championship and Baltic Cup. He also plays in prominent leagues like the English Football League and is currently playing for the Norwich City Football Club.

Joonas Suotamo is a Finnish actor and retired basketball player. Although he started his career as a basketball player, Suotamo has gained much popularity for his portrayal of Chewbacca in the famous Star Wars film series. He played the role in movies like The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

Finnish basketball player Lauri Markkanen is best known for his present stint with the NBA team Cleveland Cavaliers. The 3-time Finnish Player of the Year has also played for the Chicago Bulls earlier. Known for his near-7-foot frame, he has also been an NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2018.

Keke Rosberg is a Finnish retired racing driver best known for winning the Formula One World Championship in 1982. Rosberg was the first Finnish champion in the history of the Formula One World Championship. Keke Rosberg has also achieved popularity as the father of the 2016 F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg.

Tuuka Rask a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender. He currently plays for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Highly skilled, he won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender during the 2013-14 season. He also played for the national team at the 2014 Winter Olympics. His brother, Joonas Rask, is also a professional ice hockey player.

Teemu Selänne is a Finnish retired ice hockey player who played as a winger. Dubbed the Finnish Flash, Teemu is the highest scoring player from Finland in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL). In 2017, he became only the second Finn after Jari Kurri to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Paavo Nurmi was a Finnish athlete who specialized in long-distance and middle-distance running. Nicknamed the Flying Finn, Nurmi dominated important distance running events in the early 20th century. He won nine gold medals and three silver medals across three Olympics in 1920, 1924, and 1928. Paavo Nurmi also set 22 official world records during his career.

Popularly known as The Nordic Nightmare, Finnish boxer Robert Helenius was born in Sweden and moved to Finland with his parents at age 2. He was 5 when he began training in boxing and grew up to win a silver at the 2006 European Championships. He has played for both Sweden and Finland,

Finnish retired hockey player Jari Kurri is not just a 5-time Stanley Cup winner but also the first from his country to be part of the Hockey Hall of Fame. An Olympic bronze medal winner, he managed the Finnish team post-retirement. He is married to former Miss Finland, Vanessa Forsman.

Sami Hyypiä is a Finnish former football player who was an important member of the Finland national team. At the time of his retirement, Hyypiä was Finland's second most capped player after Jari Litmanen with 105 caps. Sami Hyypiä successfully established himself as a manager after retiring as a player.  

Matti Nykänen was a Finnish ski jumper widely considered to be the greatest male ski jumper of all time. Over the course of his career, he won five Winter Olympic medals and nine World Championship medals. He won the International Masters Championship for veteran ski jumpers in 2008. He had a tumultuous personal life and faced several legal issues.

Finnish ice hockey goaltender Pekka Rinne has been a silver medalist at the 2014 World Championships. He has been part of the NHL team Nashville Predators and has won the Vezina Trophy, too. A 4-time NHL All-Star, he also won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 2021.

Finnish F-1 racing driver, who has driven for teams such as Caterham-Renault, Lotus F1, and McLaren. He was the 100th driver to win a F-1 Grand Prix. Though he has competed in the Australian and Brazilian Grand Prix, he scored his only win at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2008.

Tommi Mäkinen is a Finnish former racing driver. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful World Rally Championship (WRC) drivers of all time; he won four World Rally Championship titles during his career. After retiring as a driver, Tommi Mäkinen established himself as a racing executive.

Ari Vatanen is a rally driver-turned-politician who won the drivers' title at the 1981 World Rally Championship as well as the prestigious Paris Dakar Rally on four occasions. He also won the World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies in 1997. Since 2013, Ari Vatanen has been serving as the president of the Autosport Union in Estonia.

Marcus Grönholm is a Finnish retired rally and rallycross driver. With 34 rally wins and two championships under his belt, Marcus Grönholm is considered one of the most successful World Rallycross Championship (WRC) drivers of all time.

Makwan Amirkhani is an Iranian-born Finnish MMA fighter who currently competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He has won three Performance of the Night awards so far in the UFC.

Lukáš Hrádecký is a Finnish football player who plays as a goalkeeper for the Finland national team and Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. Starting from 2016, Hrádecký was adjudged Finnish Footballer of the Year for three years in a row. In 2020, Lukáš Hrádecký helped his national team qualify for the UEFA European Championship for the first time.

Finnish ice hockey forward Kasperi Kapanen is best known for his stint with the NHL team Pittsburgh Penguins. The son of former ice hockey player Sami Kapanen and the grandson of Hockey Hall of Famer Hannu Kapanen, he has won gold medals at the Winter Youth Olympics and the World U20 Championship.

Jussi Jääskeläinen is a Finnish former football player who played as a goalkeeper. An important player for Finland, Jääskeläinen earned 56 caps for the national team. In 2001, he helped his team win the Nordic Football Championship title. Jussi Jääskeläinen is currently working as a football coach.

Joel Pohjanpalo is a Finnish football player who plays as a striker. An important player for the Finland national football team, Pohjanpalo has also played for popular clubs like Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburger SV. 

Juha Kankkunen is a Finnish retired rally driver. He is best known for winning four drivers' world championship titles and 23 world rallies during his illustrious career. A successful driver, Juha Kankkunen competed for popular teams like Toyota, Peugeot, Ford, Subaru, and Hyundai.  

Henri Toivonen was a Finnish rally driver who became the youngest driver ever to become the World Rally Champion in 1980. The record was later broken by his countryman Jari-Matti Latvala in 2008. Henri Toivonen is also known as the son of Pauli Toivonen, who won the 1968 European Rally Championship title.

One of Finland’s greatest hockey players of all time, Saku Koivu has been part of the Finnish World Championship-winning team in 1995. He has won 4 Olympic medals, including a silver. He is a cancer survivor and has been part of the International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission.

Lasse Virén is a Finnish retired athlete who specialized in long-distance running. He is best known for his performance in the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games, where he won two gold medals at each Games. Lasse Virén is also known for winning a bronze medal at the 1974 European Championships in Rome.

Mikael Forssell is a Finnish retired football player who played as a striker. He represented his national team in 87 games between 1999 and 2014. He scored 29 goals for his country, the second highest number of goals by a Finnish player.

Finnish racing driver Mika Salo was once a prominent member of Formula One. Post-retirement, he has worked for Finnish MTV3 Formula One as a commentator and has also been a host on Test Drive by Mika Salo. He has been featured on Driven to Extremes, too.

Jouko Ahola is a Finnish retired powerlifter, strongman, and actor. He is best known for winning the 1997 World's Strongest Man competition. He won the competition again in 1999, establishing his supremacy in the powerlifting scene. Since the early 2000s, Jouko Ahola has been focusing on his career as an actor. 

Legendary Finnish track and field athlete Hannes Kolehmainen was one of the Flying Finns and had won 4 Olympic gold medals and a silver. Known for undergoing rigorous training sessions, he also maintained a vegetarian diet. Though a bricklayer by profession, he had a sports-loving family and 2 brothers who were long-distance runners.

Mikael Granlund is a Finnish ice hockey player best known for winning the bronze medal for his country at the 2014 Winter Olympics. He has also been a part of the team that won the gold medal at the 2011 and 2022 World Championships. Mikael Granlund also plays in the NHL and is the current alternate captain of the Predators. 

Leo Komarov is an ice hockey player best known for winning the gold medal for the Finnish national team at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He was also part of the team that won the gold medal at the IIHF World Championship in 2011. Leo Komarov has won several prestigious tournaments like the Karjala Cup and Sweden Hockey Games. 

Mikko Koivu is a Finnish retired ice hockey player who played as a centre. He is best known for leading the Finnish national team at the 2011 World Championship where the team won the gold medal. Mikko Koivu was also part of the team that won a silver medal and a bronze medal at the 2006 and 2010 Olympics, repsectively.

Patrik Antonius is a Finnish poker player and former tennis player. A multi-talented personality, Antonius has also worked as a model. As a poker player, Patrik Antonius has been mentored by famous poker players like Jennifer Harman and Marcel Lüske.

Mostly known by his ring name, Ludvig Borga, Finnish wrestler, MMA fighter, and boxer Tony Halme had an eventful life. Known for his homophobic and pro-Nazi views, he was also an actor, a musician, a politician, and a writer. He also struggled with mental health issues and short-term memory loss.

Jesse Puljujarvi is a Finnish ice hockey player best known for winning the gold medal at the 2016 World Junior Championship. Rated as a top prospect, Jesse Puljujarvi is currently signed to the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL. 

Esa Tikkanen is a Finnish retired ice hockey player who played as a forward. He is best known for his association with the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL) with which he won four Stanley Cups. Esa Tikkanen took his overall tally of Stanley Cups to five when he helped New York Rangers win the title in 1994.

Miikka Kiprusoff is a Finnish retired ice hockey player who played as a goaltender. He is best known for helping his national team win the bronze medal at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. He also won silver medals at the 1999 and 2001 World Championships as well as a silver medal at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

Tim Sparv is a Finnish retired football player who played as a midfielder. Over the course of his career, he won 84 caps for the Finland national team and represented the team in prestigious tournaments like the Baltic Cup. Tim Sparv helped his team win the silver medal and the bronze medal at the 2012 and 2014 Baltic Cup respectively.

Olli Jokinen is a Finnish retired ice hockey player best known for winning the silver medal for his national team at the 2006 Olympic Games. He also won the bronze medals at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Olli Jokinen also helped his team win three silver medals and three bronze medals at the World Championships.

Jari-Matti Latvala is a Finnish rally driver. Best known for his aggressive driving style, which often draws comparison to the late Colin McRae, Jari-Matti Latvala is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC) to not have won a championship.

Apart from being the top-seeded Finnish tennis player in singles, Emil Ruusuvuori has also had a career-high world singles ranking of 48. While he took up badminton as a child, a coach suggested tennis to him at age 5, which led him to join his first ITF Juniors tournament at 14.

Antti Niemi is a Finnish retired football player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented the Finland national team from 1992 to 2007 and also played for Premier League clubs like Portsmouth Football Club during his playing career. Antti Niemi has also worked as a goalkeeping coach for the Finnish national team.          

Roman Eremenko is a football player who plays as a midfielder. Best known for his performance while playing for FC Dynamo Kyiv, Eremenko helped the team win the Ukrainian Premier League in 2009. He was also a regular member of the Finland national team prior to his two-year ban in 2016 for cocaine use.

With a career-best singles ranking of 85, Swiss tennis sensation Henri Laaksonen is definitely a player to look out for. Born to former tennis player Sandro Della Piana, Laaksonen began training in the sport at age 3. While he initially represented Finland, his birth country, he later began playing for Switzerland.

Rasmus Ristolainen is a Finnish ice hockey player best known for winning the gold medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Malmö. Rasmus Ristolainen currently plays for the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL.