Suvi Minkkinen became the first Finnish woman to win an Olympic medal in biathlon in Milano Cortina. Minkkinen took bronze in the women’s pursuit.
Suvi Minkkinen started the pursuit race in sixth place after the sprint competition. Just like in the sprint competition, Minkkinen performed flawlessly on the shooting ranges. While others were nervous at the last standing shooting range, Minkkinen kept her cool and once again shot flawlessly.
Minkkinen started second in the final cross-country event. Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide beat Minkkinen, but Minkkinen kept the other challengers behind her. France’s Lou Jeanmonnot, who finished fourth, was 15.1 seconds behind the Finn.
– Really good vibes. I was able to run a perfect race, just as I had planned. For four laps, I focused on my own performance. Today, my level of concentration was ideal, which is difficult to achieve. Today, I succeeded, and my reward was an Olympic bronze medal. It feels really good, Minkkinen smiled.
– The greatest emotions come from the fact that a couple of years ago, I drew up a training plan for high-altitude training with these competitions in mind, so that I could finally get my body to perform here in Anterselva. Now I can compete at the highest level in the world here too.
31-year-old Minkkinen is competing in his third Olympic Games. Before his success in the sprint, his best individual result came on Saturday, when Minkkinen finished sixth in the sprint. His best team result, sixth place in the mixed relay, also came at the Games in Milano Cortina.
Minkkinen represents Joutsan Pommi. He is coached by Mikko Viitanen. This is Minkkinen’s second medal in his career; he won his first last winter at the World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, where he took bronze in the sprint.
Minkkinen’s medal is Finland’s seventh medal in biathlon in Olympic history, but all previous medals have been won by men. It has been 28 years since the last Olympic medal; Ville Räikkönen won Olympic bronze in the sprint competition in Nagano in 1998.