Heli Rantanen

Heli Orvokki Rantanen (born February 26, 1970 in Lammi ) is a former Finnish athlete . With a height of 1.74 m, her competition weight was 72 kg.

Career

The javelin thrower Heli Rantanen celebrated her debut in the adult class in 1990 at the European Championships as twelfth with 53.98 m. At the World Championships the following year she was ninth with 60.96 m.

At the Olympic Games in 1992 Heli Rantanen threw the javelin in qualification to 63.98 m. In the final she was sixth with 62.34 m. In 1993 came eleventh place at the World Championships with 53.14 m after 60.56 m in qualification. At the European Championships in Helsinki in 1994 , of all places, the thrower was absent due to injury.

At the 1995 World Championships, Rantanen qualified with 60.34 m. For the first time, she was able to improve significantly compared to the qualification and took fourth place with 65.04 m. While the Belarusian Natalja Schikolenko clearly won with 67.56 m, the second-placed Romanian Felicia Țilea-Moldovan with 65.22 m and Rantan's compatriot Mikaela Ingberg with 65.16 m were only a few centimeters ahead of Rantanen.

The 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta became the career highlight of the Heli Rantanen. With a new personal best of 66.54 m, she was second in the qualification behind Tilea. In the final she was able to increase to 67.94 n and won ahead of the Australian Louise McPaul and the Norwegian Trine Hattestad .

Tenth place at the 1997 World Championships with 62.64 m was followed by fifth place at the 1998 European Championships with 62.34 m.

Finnish athletes have shaped the history of Olympic athletics for many years, especially in long-distance running and javelin throwing. After 100 years of history of the modern Olympic Games, Heli Rantanen was the first Finnish athlete to achieve an Olympic victory.

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Fields Athletics , Berlin 1999, published by the German Society for Athletics Documentation eV