The 2008 Finnish Athletics Championships were held in the Ratina Stadion in Tampere from July 24 to July 27, 2008. The event served as a qualification tournament for the 2008 Summer Olympics staged from August 15 to August 24, 2008 in Beijing, PR China.
This page contains an overview of the year 2008 in athletics
Tampere is a city in Pirkanmaa, southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries.
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last ten days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking events.
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event that was held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States.
The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, were originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo, Japan. They were rescheduled for Helsinki, Finland, to be held from July 20 to August 4, 1940, but were ultimately cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II. Helsinki eventually hosted the 1952 Summer Olympics and Tokyo the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Justin Gatlin is an American sprinter who specializes in the 100 and 200 metres events. He is the reigning 100 m World Champion. He is the 2004 Olympic champion in the 100 metres, the 2005 and 2017 World champion in the same event, and the 2005 World champion in the 200 metres. Gatlin was banned from competing between 2006 and 2010 by the USADA for failing a second drugs test, testing positive for testosterone.
The Helsinki Olympic Stadium, located in the Töölö district about 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country, nowadays mainly used for hosting sports events and big concerts. The stadium is best known for being the centre of activities in the 1952 Summer Olympics. During those games, it hosted athletics, equestrian show jumping, and the football finals.
Kerron Stephon Clement is an American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the indoor world record in the 400-meter sprint, having broken Michael Johnson's mark in 2005.
David Robert Moorcroft OBE is a former middle-distance and long-distance runner from England, and former world record holder for 5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as the Chief Executive of UK Athletics from 1997 to 2007. He received an MBE in 1983 and an OBE in 1998 for services to British sport.
Stockholm Olympic Stadium, most often called Stockholms stadion or simply Stadion, is a stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Designed by architect Torben Grut, it was opened in 1912, its original use was as a venue for the 1912 Olympic Games. At the 1912 Games, it hosted the athletics, some of the equestrian, some of the football, gymnastics, the running part of the modern pentathlon, tug of war, and wrestling events. It has a capacity of 13,145–14,500 depending on usage and a capacity of nearly 33,000 for concerts.
Athletics has been contested at every Summer Olympics since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The athletics program traces its earliest roots to events used in the ancient Greek Olympics. The modern program includes track and field events, road running events, and racewalking events. Cross country running was also on the program in earlier editions but it was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics.
Tero Kristian Pitkämäki is a Finnish track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is a World Champion, having won gold in 2007. His personal best throw of 91.53 m, set in 2005, ranks him eleventh on the overall list.
Ivan Ryhoravich Tsikhan is a Belarusian hammer thrower. He is a two-time world champion and an Olympic medalist.
Andrei Anatolyevich Mikhnevich is a Belarusian shot putter with a personal best of 21.69 metres, set in 2003. In 2013 he was banned from sports for life due to his second doping positive.
Jaak Uudmäe is a retired Estonian triple jumper and long jumper who competed for the Soviet Union. He was the gold medalist at the 1980 Summer Olympics. He set a personal best of 17.35 m in his Olympic victory – a mark which remains the Estonian record.
Martti Sakari Vainio is a Finnish former long-distance runner. In Finland he is recognized as the last of the great runners of the famous "V-line", the previous ones being Juha Väätäinen, Lasse Virén, and Pekka Vasala. Each of them won at least one gold medal either at the Summer Olympics or the European Athletics Championships in the 1970s.
Nataliya Pyhyda is a Ukrainian track and field sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. Her personal best times are 22.82 seconds (2008) and 50.62 seconds (2015), respectively.
For the 1952 Summer Olympics, a total of twenty-four sports venues were used. Three of the venues were constructed for the 1940 Summer Olympics, but were postponed in the wake of World War II. Those venues were completed in time for the 1952 Games. The main stadium served as host to the World Athletics Championships in 1983 and in 2005. Two venues were purchased by the city of Helsinki after the Olympics, one changed from an exhibition center to a sports arena, and another changed from a sports arena to an art museum. With an annual average temperature of 5.9 °C, Helsinki is the coldest city to host the Summer Olympics.
Dafne Schippers is a Dutch track and field athlete. She competes primarily in the sprints, having previously participated in the heptathlon. She is the 2015 and 2017 World Champion and won silver at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 200 metres.
Julius Yego is a Kenyan track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. Nicknamed "Mr. YouTube" because he learned how to throw by watching YouTube videos of javelin athletes, Yego is the African record and Commonwealth record holder for the event with a personal best of 92.72 m.
Gamze Bulut is a Turkish female middle-distance runner and is currently on a four-year ban until May 29, 2020.
Finland competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Finnish athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games since the nation's official debut in 1908.