Jukka Salmela

Jukka Salmela
Full name	Jukka Arto Olavi Salmela
nation	Finland
birthday	December 30, 1958
place of birth	Kangasala , Pirkanmaa
size	178 cm
Weight	81 kg
Career
society	Kangasalan Voitto
status	resigned

Jukka Arto Olavi Salmela (born December 30, 1958 in Kangasala , Pirkanmaa ) is a former Finnish speed skater .

Salmela was a sprint specialist. At the Finnish sprint championships he won the silver medal in 1979, where he could decide both runs over 500 meters for themselves. In 1980 he qualified for the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid . There he reached 18th place over 500 meters and 30th over 1000 meters. A year later he won the national sprint championships and qualified for the 1981 sprint world championships . There he finished 12th, over 500 meters he was seventh twice.

In March 1980, Salmela became the first speed skater to break the 37-second mark over 500 meters. Since this time was hand-stopped, it was not recognized as a world record. In the following three years no speed skater could beat this time.

After his active career, Salmela worked as a music teacher and is the singer of the bands Tabula Rasa and Salmela Komitea .

Personal bests

route	time	date	place
300 m	24.55 s	February 20, 1982	Hol
500 m	36.80 s	March 31, 1980	Almaty
700 m	55.06 s	February 20, 1982	Hol
1,000 m	1: 15.80 min	March 30, 1980	Almaty
1,500 m	2: 06.50 min	January 18, 1983	Davos
3,000 m	4: 43.60 min	December 8, 1981	Helsinki
5,000 m	8: 35.90 min	17th January 1981	Kangasala

Web links

• Jukka Salmela in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Statistics on speed skating news