Sanni Utriainen

Sanni Marja Anniina Utriainen (born 5 February 1991) is a Finnish javelin thrower. She won gold at the 2010 World Junior Championships and competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Biography

Utriainen was born in Nokia, Finland on 5 February 1991. Her father, Esa Utriainen, was Finnish champion in men's javelin throw in 1979 and represented Finland at the 1983 World Championships. Sanni Utriainen first broke 50 metres in 2008, throwing 51.89 m at the Pihtipudas Javelin Carnival and winning the Finnish youth championship with 51.00 m. In 2009, she placed ninth at the European Junior Championships in Novi Sad, throwing 51.25 m in the qualification and 48.45 m in the final. Later that summer she won gold at the Finnish championships in Kajaani, throwing 56.29 m for her first (and, , only) national senior title; she also won at the Finland-Sweden Athletics International, setting a new personal best of 57.26 m. Her best throw in 2012, 59.31 m, was a Finnish under-23 record and exceeded the B standard for the Olympics in London; she was selected for the Olympics, but went out in the qualifying round, not registering a valid mark on any of her three attempts. At the 2015 national championships in early August she only managed 57.59 m and placed second behind Oona Sormunen, but the following week she threw 63.03 m in Kuortane, improving her personal best by almost three metres and exceeding the qualifying standard for the World Championships in Beijing.

Coaching

Utriainen is coached by her father Esa. Former javelin thrower Tero Järvenpää became her secondary coach in 2015.