Pekka Rauhala

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pekka Veli Rauhala (born April 25, 1960 in Muurame ) is a former Finnish wrestler .

Career

Pekka Veli Rauhala is the son of Kalervo Rauhala , who won the silver medal in wrestling ( Greco-Roman style ) in the middleweight division at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki . It is therefore not surprising that Pekka and his brother Jukka Rauhala, who was one year older than him, began wrestling at the Teuvan Rivakka wrestling club as a schoolboy . Both brothers concentrated on the free style .

Pekka Rauhala has already won several Finnish championships in the junior division and in 1976 at the age of 16 also became Finnish champion in the senior class in free style and in Greco-Roman style in paper weight (class up to 48 kg body weight). In the following years he competed regularly in the Finnish championships until 1992 and won a total of 14 championship titles in both styles.

On the international wrestling mat, Pekka Rauhala fully concentrated on the free style. He made his debut at an international championship in 1978 at the European Junior Championships in Oulu , where he reached 4th place in the featherweight division. In 1979 he won the European Union lightweight championship in Manchester and in 1980 he finished fifth at the European lightweight championship in Prievidza with three wins. He was already part of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow and came in 8th place in the lightweight. He celebrated a remarkable victory over the Mongol Dzewegiin Oidow ,

In 1982 and 1983, Pekka Rauhala was vice European champion in welterweight. In 1982 he lost the final in Varna against Martin Knosp from the Federal Republic of Germany and in 1983 in Budapest against Saban Sejdi from Yugoslavia . In 1983 he also achieved a very good 4th place at the World Championships in Kiev , where he lost again to Martin Knosp in the battle for the bronze medal and in 1984 he was also the fourth winner at the European Championships in Jönköping and again it was Martin Knsop, who defeated him in the battle for the world championship bronze medal.

At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, after three wins and one loss to Saban Sejdi, he finished eighth, just like four years ago. In the following years, Pekka Rauhala was runner-up again in Tampere in 1987 and in Manchester in 1988. Both times he lost it in the final against the Soviet athlete Adlan Varajew . At the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 he reached an excellent 5th place in the welterweight division.

From 1989 onwards, Pekka Rauhala, now starting in the middleweight division, at the world and European championships, with the exception of 1989, where he finished 5th in the middleweight division in Ankara , no longer quite the good placements of previous years. Also at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona , the fourth in which he took part, he only came in 11th place in the middleweight division.

After these Olympics, Pekka Rauhala ended his wrestling career. He had already studied at the University of Helsinki while he was active . He completed these studies and another at the Helsinki School of Economics successfully and is now a leading manager of a Finnish business enterprises and lecturer at the University of Helsinki.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, F = free style, GR = Greco-Roman style, Pa = paper weight, Fe = featherweight, Le = lightweight, We = welterweight, Mi = middleweight, then up to 48 kg , 62 kg, 68 kg, 74 kg and 82 kg body weight)

Finnish championships

  • 1976, 1st place, F, Pa, ahead of Jouko Salomäki and Arvo Savolainen,
  • 1976, 1st place, GR, Pa, ahead of Soini Kauppinen and Pasi Anttila,
  • 1977, 2nd place, F, Fe, behind Jukka Rauhala and in front of Teijo Salminen,
  • 1978, 1st place, F, Le, ahead of Kari Övermark and Kari Remsu,
  • 1978, 2nd place, Gr, Fe, behind Ilpo Seppälä and in front of Pauli Salimäki,
  • 1979, 1st place, F, We, ahead of Matti Övermark and Jouni Ilomäki ,
  • 1980, 1st place, F, We, ahead of Hannu Lemettinen and Tuomo Sipilä,
  • 1981, 1st place, F, We, ahead of Tuomo Sipilä and Uoti Heikinniemi,
  • 1982, 1st place, F, We, ahead of Kari Övermark and Hannu Rantala ,
  • 1983, 1st place, F, Wed, ahead of Kari Tuurunen and Jouni Ilomäki,
  • 1983, 2nd place, GR, We, behind Jouko Salomäki and in front of Tuomo Sipilä,
  • 1985, 1st place, F, Wed, ahead of Jouni Ilomäki and Kari Tuurunen,
  • 1986, 1st place, F, Wed, ahead of Kai Lehtonen and Jussa Tuokkola,
  • 1987, 1st place, F, Wed, before Jussi Tuokkola and Pasi Sarkkinen,
  • 1988, 1st place, F, Wed, ahead of Jukka Tammisto and Tuomo Karila ,
  • 1989, 2nd place, GR, Wed, behind Timo Niemi and in front of Seppo Salomäki,
  • 1990, 1st place, F, Wed, ahead of Tuomo Karila and Jussi Tuokkola,
  • 1991, 1st place, F, Wed, ahead of Pasi Sarkkinen and Tuomo Karila

swell

  • Journal Der Ringer , numbers: 5/1980, page 10, 8/1980, page 8, 5/1981, page 7, 10/1981, page 6, 5/6/1982, pages 5/6, 9/1983, page 9, 10/1983, page 6, 5/1984, page 11, 9/1984, page 13, 11/1985, page 6, 5/1986, page 6, 6/1987, page 9, 5/1988, page 5 , 10/1988, page 12, 5/1989, page 10, 10/1990, pages 5/5, 5/1991, page 23, 10/1991, page 11
  • Website of the sports organization TUL www.tulpaini.fi with the results of the Finnish championships
  • Website of the company SSH Communication

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Rauhala, Pekka
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rauhala, Pekka Veli (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Muurame