Pertti Ukkola

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Pertti Ukkola medal table

Wrestler

Finland
Olympic games
gold 1976 Montreal Bantam Greco
World Championship
bronze 1975 Minsk Bantam Greco
gold 1977 Gothenburg Bantam Greco
bronze 1981 Oslo Spring Greco
European Championship
gold 1977 Bursa Bantam Greco

Pertti Olavi Ukkola (born August 10, 1950 in Sodankylä ) is a former Finnish wrestler . He was an Olympic champion in the Greco-Roman style (bantamweight) in 1976 .

Career

Pertti Ukkola started wrestling as a teenager in 1960. He belonged to the sports club Koo-Vee Tampere and was trained there by Toivo Sillapää. He focused fully on the Greco-Roman style. Since 1968 he has belonged to the elite of Finnish wrestlers in the lightest weight classes (fly and bantamweight). He had his greatest successes in bantamweight. Before important championships he was able to train about 6 to 7 kg without a great loss of substance in order to reach the weight limit of 57 kg for this weight class.

In 1968 Pertti Ukkola was the first Finnish champion in flyweight seniors. By 1980 he won this title seven times. He made his debut at an international championship in 1970 at the European Championships in Berlin (East). In the flyweight division he came in 8th place with a win. In those years he fought with Risto Björlin for supremacy in the Finnish national team in his weight class. So it was not until 1972 that he came on his next assignment. This was at the Olympic Games in Munich . But he had bad luck in Munich, because after a narrow point defeat in his first fight against Jan Michalik from Poland he could not continue because of an injury and was eliminated without a place.

In 1973 he started at the European Championships in Helsinki, his home country . In the bantamweight he achieved two victories against such strong wrestlers as Ivan Frgić from Yugoslavia and Jan Neckar from Czechoslovakia . However, defeats against Janos Szönyi from Hungary and Józef Lipień from Poland relegated him to 6th place. At the 1974 World Cup in Katowice , he got two wins again in bantamweight. But this time he lost to Ivan Frgić and the Soviet world champion Farchat Mustafin and reached 8th place.

His first medal at an international championship was won by Pertti Ukkola, who now slowly reached his full wrestling ability, in 1975 with 3rd place at the world championship in Minsk . It took him five wins. Only Józef Lipień and Farchat Mustafin were ahead of him.

In 1976 Pertti Ukkola paused at the European Championships, where Risto Björlin was used, but at the Olympic Games in Montreal he was Finland's starter in the bantamweight division. In Montreal he then won over Mihai Boțilă from Romania, Hans-Jürgen Veil from Germany , József Doncsecz from Hungary and Farhat Mustafin, but against Józef Lipień he lost again on points. But since Józef Lipień lost to Mustafin and was eliminated before reaching the finals, he became Olympic champion ahead of Ivan Frgić and Farchat Mustafin.

The following year 1977 turned out to be the most successful year in Pertti Ukkola's career, as he became European champion in Bursa and world champion in bantamweight in Gothenburg . He remained undefeated in 13 fights at both championships and defeated the entire world elite of the Greco-Roman wrestling bantamweights. It was no wonder that after these successes, Pertti Ukkola was named Finnish Sportsman of the Year at the end of 1977.

The setback was all the greater in 1978. He only wrestled at the World Cup that year in Mexico City and was eliminated after defeats against two wrestlers who were not part of the world's elite, Herbert Nigsch from Austria and Danilo Perez from Guatemala , and only won 16th place. He then paused until the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow . There he scored only one win and retired after the 3rd round with defeats to Georgi Donew from Bulgaria and Mihai Boțilă from Romania. With these results he ended up in 8th place.

In 1981 he started at the World Championships in Oslo for the last time in an international championship. He was in better shape there again and only lost in the so-called pool final against Ryszard Swierad from Poland. As the pool runner-up he then fought against the runner-up of the other pool Yuri Kochergin from the USSR for the bronze medal and won this fight on points.

After this championship he ended his international wrestling career.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, GR = Greco-Roman style, Fl = flyweight, Ba = bantamweight, Fe = featherweight, back then up to 52 kg, 57 kg and 62 kg body weight)

Finnish championships

  • 1969, 1st place , GR, Fl, before Ilmari Huhtala u. Pauli Salimäki
  • 1969, 1st place , GR, Fl, before Erkki Ylioska u. Tuomo Kallijärvi
  • 1970, 3rd place , GR, Ba, behind Risto Björlin u. before Raimo Taskinen
  • 1971, 1st place , GR, Bg, ahead of Risto Björlin and Jorma Kujanne
  • 1972, 1st place , GR, Bg, ahead of Risto Björlin and Jussi Vesterinen
  • 1973, 1st place , GR, Bg, ahead of Jussi Vesterinen and Juhani Tallberg
  • 1974, 1st place , GR, Bg, ahead of Pertti Savolainen and Risto Björlin
  • 1977, 1st place , GR, Bg, ahead of Pertti Savolainen and Seppo Turpeenniemi
  • 1980, 1st place , GR, Bg, ahead of Ossi Roth and Pertti Savolainen

literature

  • Documentation of International Wrestling Championships of FILA, 1976, pages: E-75, O-93, E-91, W-121, W-126, O-99,
  • Athletics magazine , numbers: 5/69, 6/73, 8/75,
  • Trade journal Der Ringer, numbers: 2/77, 6/7/77, 11/77, 9/78, 5/78, 9/78, 8/80 u. 9/81

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ukkola, Pertti
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ukkola, Pertti Olavi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Sodankylä