Finnish athletes brought home four medals as the 2008 Summer Olympics came to a close in Beijing on Sunday. Finland surpassed its goal of three medals after Tero Pitkämäki picked up the country's fourth medal on Saturday. He won a bronze in the men's javelin. Finland's only gold went to Satu Mäkelä Nummela in women's trap shooting, while Henri Häkkinen won the country's first medal when he took bronze in the men's 10-metre air-rifle shooting contest. Meanwhile Sanna Stén and Minna Nieminen nabbed Finland's only silver medal in the women's lightweight double sculls rowing event. The closing ceremony kicked off on Sunday in Beijing with a phenomenal fireworks display and included performances by tenor Placido Domingo and Chinese soprano Song Zuying. Here is the wrap-up of the competitions. Sunday 24/08/08 Francis Kirwa and Janne Holmén took 17th and 19th place respectively in the men's marathon. The gold went to Samuel Kamau Wansiru of Kenya, who won the country's first gold in the event with a time of 2:06:32. Kirwa finished with a time of 2:14:22 while Holmén came in 22 seconds later. Saturday 23/08/08 Finland picked up its fourth medal at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, as Tero Pitkämäki won bronze in the men's javelin. Pitkämäki was followed by Tero Järvenpää in fourth place and Teemu Wirkkala in fifth. At one point, "the two Teros" were in first and second place. However they were out-thrown by Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen and a surprising Ainars Kovals of Latvia, who won gold and silver respectively. Pitkämäki's best throw was 86.16 metres, about a metre and a half short of his best so far this season. It was also well short of Thorkildsen's 90.57 metres, a new Olympic record. Meanwhile, Anne Rikala and Jenni Mikkonen finished seventh in the women's 500-metre kayak double. Repeat Olympic champions Katalin Kovacs and Natasa Janic of Hungary won the gold. Friday 22/08/08 A disappointing day for Finnish athletes at the Beijing Olympics. In the men's 50 kilometres walking race, Jarkko Kinnunen and Antti Kempas both set personal best records in extremely hot conditions. However their times were only enough for 15th and 20th place respectively. The winner was Italy's Alex Schwarzer. Meanwhile pole vaulter Mikko Halvari finished 26th in the final. Thursday 21/08/08 Finland's kayaking duo Anne Rikala and Jenni Mikkonen advanced to Saturday's finals in the women's K2 500m by placing a promising second in the semis. All three Finnish competitors in the men's javelin event made it through to Saturday's final. Tero Pitkämäki's second throw reached nearly 83 metres, putting him third in the qualifying round. Tero Järvenpää was fourh, while Teemu Wirkkala made it into tenth position. Heavy rains increased the difficulty factor for the athletes and affected the results. Wednesday 20/08/08 Mikko Latvala of Vaasa was eliminated in the pole vault on Wednesday. Latvala made it over the 5.45 metre mark but failed to clear the 5.65 metres necessary to advance. This is the first Olympic Games for Latvala. Mika Hokajärvi and Kalle Mikkonen failed to qualify in the 1000 metre canoe-kayak semi-final on Wednesday. With a time of three minutes 27.018 seconds, they came in second to last in their heat. Mikko Lahtio was eliminated in the qualifying round of the 800 metre run. Lahtio's time of one minute 47.20 seconds fell short of the necessary one minute 46.54 seconds. Poland's Marcin Lewandowski won the heat. Tuesday 19/08/08 In Hong Kong, Finnish rider Kyra Kyrklund and her horse Max placed eighth in the individual dressage final. This was the sixth Olympic Games for the 57-year-old Kyrklund, who lives in England. She has yet to win an Olympic medal despite winning many Nordic and European titles. Tuesday's equestrian medals went to Dutch and German riders. In other results, Frantz Kruger placed 11th in the men's discus final. Kruger, a former South African Olympic medallist, became a Finnish citizen last year. The gold medal went to Estonia's Gerd Kanter. Four Finnish rowers vied for spots in the kayaking finals but did not qualify directly during the first heats. The women's pair of Anne Rikala and Jenni Mikkonen were fourth in their heat for the 500 meter flatwater race. Rikala was also seventh as a solo competitor, the same ranking as the men's team of Mika Hokajärvi and Kalle Mikkonen. They all still have a chance to qualify in the semi-finals, though. And the Finnish team's only weight-lifter, Antti Everi, placed 11th in the over 105-kilo class. Everi lifted 366 kilos, nine kilos less than his personal best. Finnish javelin champion Mikaela Ingberg didn't make it to the finals in Beijing as hoped. Her best throw on Tuesday was 58.82 metres, and the requirement for advancing was 61.50. Joona Puhakka placed 13th in the semi-finals of the 3-metre springboard, missing his chance to advance to the finals. Monday 18/08/08 Diver Joona Puhakka made it to the semi-finals in the 3-metre springboard, by diving into the top 18. Merja Korpela failed to make it to the finals of the hammer throw. Her best throw was 66.29 metres, with the cut-off for the finals at 71.50. Korpela was nonetheless pleased that her throws were getting better and better each turn. Finnish kayaking duo Kalle Mikkonen and Mika Honkajärvi placed sixth in their heat of the 1000-metre men's kayaking event. They will not go on to the finals. Sprinter Visa Hongisto progressed from the preliminary 200-metre heat to the next round. There, he set his personal best time for the season, at 20.76 seconds, but this was not enough to put him through to the semi-finals. Olympic RS:X sailing competitor Tuuli Petäjä finished in 16th place, far from qualifying for the finals. The most she can do now is to better her standing in the last race on Tuesday, but the finals are not within her reach. Sunday 17/08/08 The Finnish rowing team of Sanna Stén and Minna Nieminen powered their way to a silver medal in the women's lightweight double sculls rowing event. The Finns moved from third place into the lead in the third 500 metres of the race, but were edged out at the finish line by the Dutch team, who took the gold. The rowing silver takes Finland's medal count in the games to three - one gold, one silver and one bronze. In other news, Olli-Pekka Karjalainen placed sixth in the men's hammer throw. Saturday 16/08/08 There was one moment of celebration for Finland on Saturday when discus thrower Frantz Kruger made it to the finals. However, luck was not on the side of long jumper Tommi Evilä who failed to reach the finals in his event. Hanna-Maria Seppälä's bid for a medal also ended when she failed to make the final in the 50 metres freestyle event. Friday 15/08/08 Finnish swimmer Hanna Maria Seppälä just missed copping the bronze during the final of the women's 100-metre freestyle race. Natalie Coughlin of the United States nosed past Seppälä by barely one second to take the bronze. Thursday 14/08/08 Hanna-Maria Seppälä celebrated securing a spot in the 100-m freestyle finals with a time of 53.84 seconds. She placed third in the semi-finals. Matti Rajakylä set a Finnish record in the 50-metre freestyle with a finish for 22.48 seconds. Nonetheless this placed him 29th in the Olympics - not high enough to advance to the semi-finals. Eva Lehtonen placed third in her preliminary heat of the 800-metre freestyle swim, but this was not enough to get her through to the next round. Wednesday 13/08/08 Swimmer Hanna-Maria Seppälä made it into the semi-finals of the women's 100 metre freestyle event. Seppälä was the fastest in the opening round, setting a new Finnish record in the 100 metres. Seppälä's strong performance is seen as a boost to Finnish hopes for more medals at the Olympics. Matti Hatava, who was 58th in the opening the men's individual archery event knocked out Britain's Simon Terry 105-104 in the eliminations, placing in the top 32. However, Hatava went down to Malaysia's Chu Sian Cheng 110-102. Noora Laukkanen was eliminated from the women's 200 metre breast stroke. The youngest member of the Finnish women's swimming teams, the 15 year-old Laukkanen's time at 2.38.97 was well behind her own personal best. After a poor start, the Yngling crew captained by Silja Lehtinen placed 15th. In the overall standings, the Finnish women were in 11th place two points away from a shot at a medal. Also, in the Finn sailing event, Tapio Nirkko placed 16th in the day's race. In the overall standings he was 15th. On the Laser course Pierre Collura continued on to forge ahead, placing 18th for the day, but Tuula Tenkanen fell to 17th and was 25th in the day's run. Tuesday 12/08/08 The best Finnish achievement was in the LWT women's double sculls repechage where Sanna Stén and Minna Nieminen placed second in the preliminary heats. In Thursday's semi-finals, twelve pairs are to take part, of whom six will reach the finals. In wrestling, Jarkko Ala-Huikku's quest for a medal failed to materialise. He succumbed to Ruslan Tiumenbaville from Kyrgyzstan immediately in the opening bout. Tuuli Petäjä came seventh in the first heat of the women's wind surfing X class. She gains a place in the final. Monday 11/08/08 Sweden's Thomas Johansson beat Finnish tennis player Jarkko Nieminen 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round. Sunday 10/08/08
Mira Nevansuu racked up Finland's first Olympic points, placing seventh in the women's 10-metre air pistol event. This is the 23-year-old's first Olympics.
The three-woman sailing team skippered by Silja Lehtinen is currently in second place in the Yngling sailing event, after four provisional races.
Hanna-Maria Seppälä failed to advance past the qualifying round of the 100-metre backstroke, but she'll have another chance when her main event, the 100-metre freestyle, gets underway on Wednesday.
Sanna Stén and Minna Nieminen missed making the semi-finals in the women's lightweight double sculls, placing fourth in the second heat but failing to place in heats one and three.
Finland's number-one women's badminton player, Anu Nieminen (who is married to tennis ace Jarkko Nieminen), fell to Germany's Xu Huaiwen in the opening match. This is the third time Nieminen has failed to win her opening match in the Olympics.
Tapio Nirkko earned nine points in sailing in Qingdao on Sunday.