Finland competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 96 competitors, 89 men and 7 women, took part in 75 events in 16 sports.
Finland finished in 14th position in the final medal rankings, with three gold medals and eight medals overall.
Pekka Vasala — Athletics, Men's 1,500mLasse Virén — Athletics, Men's 5,000mLasse Virén — Athletics, Men's 10,000mReima Virtanen — Boxing, Men's MiddleweightTapio Kantanen — Athletics, Men's 3,000m SteeplechaseKyösti Laasonen — Archery, Men's Individual CompetitionRisto Hurme, Veikko Salminen, and Martti Ketelä — Modern Pentathlon, Men's Team CompetitionRisto Björlin — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman BantamweightIn the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, Finland entered three men. They won a bronze medal.
Men's Individual Competition:
Kyösti Laasonen — 2467 points (→ Bronze Medal)Olavi Laurila — 2372 points (→ 20th place)Jorma Sandelin — 2278 points (→ 40th place)Men's 100 metres
Antti RajamäkiFirst Heat — 10.52s (→ did not advance)Raimo VilenFirst Heat — 11.00s (→ did not advance)Men's 1500 metres
Pekka VasalaHeat — 3:40.9Semifinals — 3:37.9Final — 3:36.3 (→ Gold Medal)Pekka PäivärintaHeat — 3:40.9Semifinals — 3:45.1 (→ did not advance)Men's 5000 metres
Tapio KantanenHeat — 13:42.0 (→ did not advance)Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
Antti Rajamäki, Raimo Vilen, Erik Gustafsson, and Markku JuholaHeat — 39.54sSemifinals — 39.30s (NR) (→ did not advance)Men's Light Middleweight (– 71 kg)
Mikko SaarinenFirst Round — ByeSecond Round — Defeated David Attan (KEN), TKO-2Third Round — Lost to Peter Tiepold (GDR), 0:5Six cyclists represented Finland in 1972.
Individual road raceHarry Hannus — did not finish (→ no ranking)Mauno Uusivirta — did not finish (→ no ranking)Tapani Vuorenhela — did not finish (→ no ranking)Ole Wackström — did not finish (→ no ranking)Team time trialKalevi EskelinenHarry HannusMauno UusivirtaOle WackströmTeam individual pursuitRaimo SuikkanenMen's 3m Springboard:
Pentti Koskinen — 336.99 points (15th place)Women's 3m Springboard:
Laura Kivelä — 236.25 points (24th place)Women's 10m Platform:
Laura Kivelä — 172.65 points (22nd place)One fencer represented Finland in 1972.
Men's épéeRisto HurmeThree male pentathletes represented Finland in 1972, with them winning bronze in the team event.
Men's Individual Competition:
Risto Hurme — 5094 points (→ 8th place)Veikko Salminen — 4852 points (→ 17th place)Martti Ketelä — 4849 points (→ 19th place)Men's Team Competition:
Hurme, Salminen, and Ketelä — 14812 points (→ Bronze Medal)Men's Coxed Pairs
Leo Ahonen, Leif Anderson and Antero Yli-lkkeläHeat — 8:06.56Repechage — 8:11.89 (→ did not advance)Ten male shooters represented Finland in 1972.
25 m pistolImmo HuhtinenSeppo Mäkinen50 m pistolSeppo IrjalaImmo Huhtinen300 m rifle, three positionsJaakko MinkkinenOsmo Ala-Honkola50 m rifle, three positionsEsa KervinenJaakko Minkkinen50 m rifle, proneJaakko AsikainenEsa Kervinen50 m running targetPekka SuomelaPaavo MikkonenSkeetAri Westergård
