ARSI HARJU "THE FINNISH POWER" AND OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST (SHOT PUT) from FINLAND(SUOMI-FINLAND)

Arsi Harju

Medal record
Arsi Harju
Men’s Athletics
Competitor for Finland
Olympic Games
Gold	2000 Sydney	Shot put
World Championships
Bronze	2001 Edmonton	Shot put

Arsi Ilari Harju (born March 18, 1974 in Kurikka) is a Finnish former shot putter with the team Perhon kiri. He won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics with a distance of 21.29 metres. His personal best is 21.39, which he put in the qualifiers for the same Olympics. Due to his success in the Olympics and elsewhere that year, Harju was named Finnish Athlete of the Year in 2000. Harju was the 12th member to be inducted into the 20 meter club after he successfully putted the shot 20.16 m in a competition on March 2, 1997 in Tampere, Finland.

Harju is currently a national UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Finland.

[edit] Major achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Put	Result
1993	Finnish Indoor Championships	Kuopio, Finland	17.99 (FR19)	3rd
1995	Finnish Outdoor Championships	Lapua, Finland	19.46	3rd
1996	Finnish Outdoor Championships	Tampere, Finland	19.46	2nd
1997	Finnish Outdoor Championships	Lappeenranta, Finland	19.72	2nd
1997	Finnish Indoor Championships	Rovaniemi, Finland	19.77	2nd
1998	Finnish Outdoor Championships	Oulu, Finland	21.04	2nd
1998	Finnish Indoor Championships	Tampere, Finland	20.25	2nd
1998	European Indoor Championships	Valencia, Spain	20.53	3rd
1999	Finnish Indoor Championships	Jyväskylä, Finland	19.52	1st
2000	Finnish Outdoor Championships	Lahti, Finland	20.84	1st
2000	Summer Olympics	Sydney, Australia	21.29	1st
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	20.93	3rd
2002	European Championships	Munich, Germany	20.47	4th
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, England	20.96	4th
2003	Finnish Indoor Championships	Kuortane, Finland	20.37	2nd
2005	Finnish Outdoor Championships	Pori, Finland	20.21	2nd

[edit] External links

• IAAF profile for Arsi Harju
• Arsi Harju's webpage on the Perhon Kiri site

Awards
Preceded by Mika Myllylä	Finnish Sportspersonality of the year 2000	Succeeded by Sami Hyypiä

[hide] v • d • e Olympic Champions in Men's Shot Put
1896: Robert Garrett • 1900: Richard Sheldon • 1904: Ralph Rose • 1906: Martin Sheridan • 1908: Ralph Rose • 1912: Patrick McDonald • 1920: Ville Pörhölä • 1924: Clarence Houser • 1928: John Kuck • 1932: Leo Sexton • 1936: Hans Woellke • 1948: Wilbur Thompson • 1952: Parry O'Brien • 1956: Parry O'Brien • 1960: Bill Nieder • 1964: Dallas Long • 1968: Randy Matson • 1972: Władysław Komar • 1976: Udo Beyer • 1980: Vladimir Kiselyov • 1984: Alessandro Andrei • 1988: Ulf Timmermann • 1992: Mike Stulce • 1996: Randy Barnes • 2000: Arsi Harju • 2004: Yuriy Bilonoh • 2008: Tomasz Majewski