Sirkka Polkunen

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Sirkka Polkunen
Polkunen at the 1952 Olympics
Personal information
Born6 November 1927
Jyväskylä, Finland
Died28 September 2014 (aged 86)
Laukaa, Finland
Height163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Weight59 kg (130 lb)
Sport
SportCross-country skiing
ClubVihtavuoren Pamaus
Medal record
Women's cross-country skiing
Representing  Finland
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 3 × 5 km relay
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1954 Falun 3 × 5 km relay

Sirkka Tellervo "Telle" Polkunen (later Vilander, 6 November 1927 – 28 September 2014),[1] was a Finnish cross-country skier who competed at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics. She won a gold medal in the 3 × 5 km relay in 1956 and placed fifth and eighth in the individual 10 km event in 1952 and 1956, respectively. Polkunen also won a silver medal in the 3 × 5 km relay at the 1954 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships and finished sixth in the 10 km at those championships.[2]

Polkunen never won a national title, placing second-third over 10 km in 1951, 1953–54 and 1956. She worked as a loader and packer at the Vihtavuori gunpowder factory,[2] and retired from competitions in 1957.[1]

Cross-country skiing results

[edit]

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[3]

Olympic Games

[edit]
  • 1 medal – (1 gold)
 Year   Age   10 km   3 × 5 km 
 relay 
1952 24 5
1956 28 8 Gold

World Championships

[edit]
  • 1 medal – (1 silver)
 Year   Age   10 km   3 × 5 km 
 relay 
1954 26 6 Silver

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Sirkka Polkunen's obituary Archived 17 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
  2. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sirkka Polkunen". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  3. ^ "POLKUNEN Sirkka". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
[edit]