Tanja Poutiainen

Tanja Poutiainen
 Alpine skier 

Poutiainen in 2010
Disciplines Giant slalom, Slalom
Club Santa Claus Ski Team
Born (1980-04-06) 6 April 1980
Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
World Cup debut 16 March 1997 (age 16)
Retired 16 March 2014 (age 33)
Website tanjapoutiainen.com
Olympics
Teams 5 – (19982014)
Medals 1 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams 9 – (19972013)
Medals 4 (0 gold)
World Cup
Seasons 16 – (199899, 200114)
Wins 11 – (6 SL, 5 GS)
Podiums 48 – (28 SL, 20 GS)
Overall titles 0 – (5th in 2005, 2009)
Discipline titles 3 – (2 GS, 1 SL)

Tanja Tuulia Poutiainen (born 6 April 1980) is a retired World Cup alpine ski racer from Finland. She specialized in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom, and was the silver medalist in the women's giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino.

Born in Rovaniemi, Lapland, Poutiainen started skiing at the age of three.[1] She became junior world champion in slalom in 1997 at Schladming, Austria, and also took bronze in the super-G; she made her World Cup debut that March at Vail in the United States. At the 1999 Junior World Championships, she placed third in the giant slalom at Pra Loup, France.

Poutiainen scored her first World Cup victory – and the first for a female Finnish alpine skier – on 28 February 2004 in a slalom held on home snow in Levi, Finland – the first alpine World Cup race to be held in the country.[1] In the 2005 World Cup season, Poutiainen won the season titles in both the slalom and giant slalom, and placed fifth in the overall standings. Along the way she won three slaloms, a giant slalom and secured ten podium finishes.[1] At the 2005 World Championships, she placed second in the giant slalom behind Anja Pärson of Sweden and second in the slalom behind Janica Kostelić of Croatia – the first alpine World Championship medals for a Finnish female.[1]

The 2009 season saw Poutianen take another World Cup discipline title, in giant slalom, as well as bronzes in slalom and giant slalom at the World Championships in Val d'Isère.[1]

Poutiainen was notable for her consistency, and between January 2007 and March 2011 she successfully completed every World Cup race she entered – a total of 67.[1]

At the end of the 2014 season, Poutiainen had 11 World Cup victories, 48 podiums, and three World Cup discipline titles.[2] She was trained by Michael Bont and lives in St. Gallen, Switzerland. She announced her retirement from the sport in March 2014.[2]

World Cup results

Season titles

SeasonDiscipline
2005 Giant slalom
Slalom
2009 Giant slalom

Season standings

Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
slalom
Super-G Downhill Combined
1998 17 73 50 28
1999 18 95 41
2000 19
2001 20 20 12 12
2002 21 12 7 10
2003 22 11 3 14
2004 23 9 4 5
2005 24 5 1 1 48
2006 25 12 5 8 26
2007 26 7 6 2 22
2008 27 8 4 4
2009 28 5 4 1
2010 29 11 9 5
2011 30 7 2 3
2012 31 13 6 13
2013 32 13 5 22
2014 33 54 26 23

Race victories

11 wins – (5 giant slalom, 6 slalom)

SeasonDateLocationDiscipline
200424 Feb 2004Finland Levi, FinlandSlalom
2005 26 Nov 2004 United States Aspen, USA Giant slalom
28 Nov 2004 Slalom
21 Dec 2004 Austria Altenmarkt, Austria Slalom
20 Jan 2005 Croatia Zagreb, Croatia Slalom
2007 10 Mar 2007Germany Zwiesel, Germany Giant slalom
2008 15 Feb 2008 Croatia Zagreb, Croatia Slalom
2009 13 Dec 2008 Spain La Molina, Spain Giant slalom
2010 24 Oct 2009 Austria Sölden, Austria Giant slalom
24 Jan 2010 Italy Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Giant slalom
2011 11 Jan 2011 Austria Flachau, Austria Slalom

World Championship results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined
1997 16 17 DNF2
1999 18 24 14
2001 20 DNF2 13
2003 22 10 23
2005 24 2 2
2007 26 14 14
2009 28 3 3
2011 30 6 13
2013 32 4 15

Olympic results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined
1998 17 18 26
2002 21 DNF2 11
2006 25 6 2
2010 29 6 13
2014 33 12 14

References

External links

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