FINNISH SPORTS GALA BROKE SPECTATOR RECORDS

Biathlon champion recognized by sports journalists, lacrosse goal impressed the public

Over a million TV viewers witnessed the selection of Kaisa Mäkäräinen, biathlon World Champion and World Cup winner, as Athlete of the Year in the Finnish Sports Gala organized at Hartwall Areena in Helsinki. For the historical fourth consecutive time, a woman won the Athlete of the Year title in an election of Finnish sports journalists.

Mäkäräinen continued the women’s winning trail started by trap shooter Satu Mäkelä-Nummela in 2008. Cross-country skier Aino-Kaisa Saarinen and orienteerer Minna Kauppi further propped up the female reign as Athletes of the Year in 2009 and 2010.

On the other hand, the public vote for the most memorable sports moment of 2011 turned in favour of Mikael Granlund’s lacrosse-style goal in the winning semi-final match against Russia in the ice hockey World Championships. Granlund gathered 37.1 per cent of the votes, whereas the decisive moments of Mäkäräinen’s world championships race got 31.7 per cent.

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR AS HONORARY GUESTS

One of the themes chosen for the fifth Sports Gala was the Athletes of the Year. Since 1947, representatives of the Finnish Sportswriters’ Association have elected 52 different athletes to hold the title.

All of the 40 living Athletes of the Year had been invited to the Gala as guests of honour. A record number of 22 of them attended the event, including cross-country skier Marjo Matikainen-Kallström who took the title three times in the 1980s, and Heikki Hasu whose achievements in Nordic combined ensured him the title in 1948 and 1950.

The Finnish Sports Gala recognized various sports achievements in 18 award categories. The role of previous Athletes of the Year as prize givers added historical depth to the ceremonies.

FINNISH TOP ARTISTS AS ENTERTAINERS

In addition to awarding sports heroes and background figures, the Finnish Sports Gala 2012 offered a variety of enjoyable entertainment. Finland’s most popular artists such as Anna Abreu, Katri-Helena and Michael Monroe took their turn on the festive stage, with Riku Niemi Orchestra providing the music.

A record number of 1,370 invited guests arrived on site to enjoy the memorable moments and banquet delicacies. A new record was also made in the audience figure with more than 2,000 sports enthusiasts in the stands, among them hundreds of fans of Finnish ice hockey lions.

The interest among TV viewers is also strong. The aim of one million viewers was achieved in the home audience, as the live YLE TV2 broadcast had a total of 1,058,000 viewers at its peak, and an average of 788,000 viewers. Since 2008, the Finnish Sports Gala has been organized as a joint effort of Infront Finland, Finnish Sports Federation, Veikkaus and Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle.

Takaisin || Arkisto