Jarkko Saapunki

Jarkko Saapunki
nation	Finland
birthday	October 25, 1976
place of birth	Oulu ,  Finland
size	170 cm
Weight	75 kg
Career
society	Puijon Hiihtoseura
status	resigned
End of career	1996
Ski jumping world cup / A class jumping
Debut in the World Cup	1994

Jarkko Saapunki (born October 25, 1976 in Oulu ) is a former Finnish ski jumper and today's ski jumping coach.

Career

Athletic career

Saapunki only appeared briefly as an active player. He started skiing in 1992 at the Kuopio sports high school with Mika Kojonkoski . In 1993 he was nominated for the Junior World Championships, but could not start because of an illness. In the following year he was fourth on the normal hill and seventh on the large hill at the Finnish championships and then also used in the World Cup, but narrowly failed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Lillehammer . In 1994 he had his only season with starts in the ski jumping world cup . In the European Cup he had some podium finishes, but in 1996 he ended his active career.

Coaching

Saapunki began training and working as a trainer in 1997, initially as a fitness trainer and trainer for ski jumping women. A yearlong stay as a youth coach in Nagano , Japan, was followed by employment at the Vuokatti Sports Institute in Sotkamo , where he also looked after Jaakko Tallus and Petter Kukkonen as a jumping coach and he was responsible for the Finnish junior national team from 1998 to the beginning of 2002. From the 2002/2003 season he was the Finnish Nordic Combined Skydiving coach . While he already had coaching responsibilities, he completed the necessary training to become a trainer and qualified sports teacher with his former coach Mika Kojonkoski. From 2005 Saapunki traveled with the Finnish ski jumpers of the national team and works as personal trainer for Matti Hautamäki and Arttu Lappi . In 2010 he retired completely from ski jumping.

Musician career

In addition to skiing, Saapunki was always active as a musician. Together with Ville Kantee , he founded the rock band Jumping Twins in 1992 and was the manager of the ski jumping band Vieraileva Tähti , with whom he recorded two singles on renowned Finnish labels. He composed the official anthem for the Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti in 2001 . As manager of the band The Kroisos, he is responsible for the professionalization of the band.

Private

Saapunki lives in Kuopio with his wife Saija and has three children.

Web links

• Jarkko Saapunki in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)
• Coaches Presentations, Jarkko Saapunki, Nordic Combined Finland (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jarkko Saapunki: Farewell to ski jumping. In: skispringen.com. Retrieved December 16, 2015 .