Ilona Mononen

Ilona Mononen

Personal information
Nationality	Finnish
Born	(2003-12-18) 18 December 2003 (age 21)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Long distance running, Steeplechase
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	1500m: 4:14.79 (Joensuu, 2023) 3000m: 9:02.00 (Kuortane, 2023) 5000m: 15:41.82 (Tallinn, 2023) 3000m s'chase: 9:23.28 (Rome, 2024) NR
Medal record Women's athletics Representing   Finland European Athletics U23 Championships 2025 Bergen 3000 m s'chase European Athletics U20 Championships 2021 Tallinn 3000 m European Cross Country Championships 2024 Antalya U23 race 2023 Brussels U23 race 2022 Turin U20 race World University Games 2025 Rhine-Ruhr 3000 m steeplechase

Ilona Mononen (born 18 December 2003) is a Finnish runner. She has won national indoor championship titles over 3000 metres and 5000 metres. She is the Finnish national record holder in the 3000 metres steeplechase. ^[1]

Career

She won gold at the 2021 European Athletics U20 Championships in Tallinn over 3000 metres aged 17 years-old. ^[2] At the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, she finished eighth in the 1500 metres and fifth in the 3000 metres. ^{[3] [4]}

At the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia she finished eighth again in the 1500 metres and fifth over 3000 metres. ^[5] She competed in the 5000 metres at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich. ^[6] At the 2022 European Cross Country Championships in Turin she won bronze in the U20 category in December 2022. ^[7]

At the 2023 European Cross Country Championships she won silver in the under-23 category in Brussels. ^[8]

In February 2024, she ran a national record over 3000 metres to win the Nordic Championship. ^[9]

She ran a national record of 9:23.28 in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome in June 2024. ^[10] She competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the Women's 3000 metres steeplechase. ^[11] In December 2024, she won the bronze medal in the U23 race at the European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey. ^[12]

She won the 3000 metres at the Finnish Indoor Athletics Championships in February 2025, running a time of 9:14.06. ^[13] She was selected to compete for Finland at the 2025 European Running Championships in Belgium in April 2025. ^[14] Competing at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships in Madrid on 29 June 2025, she won the 3000 metres steeplechase by 0.03 seconds from Sarah Tait of Great Britain. ^{[15] [16]} She ran 9:30.49 to win the gold medal in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2025 European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen, Norway. ^[17] She was selected for the Finnish team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. ^[18]

References

1. "Ilona Mononen". World Athletics. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
2. "17-year-old Ilona Mononen, who won the EC gold, is a raw girl who rose from an "ok level" to the top of Europe in two years". yle.fi. 18 July 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
3. "Ilona Mononen Fifth in the 3000 meters of the World Championships - "The group of four started at such a speed that I didn't dare to join them"". hameensanomat. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
4. "World Athletics U20 Championships". World Athletics. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
5. "Ilona Mononen took 2 points from the Junior World Championships". lahdenakhera. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
6. "Klosterhalfen drove the Munich Olympic Stadium wild and capped off a difficult year with 5,000m European Championship gold – Richardsson gave the organizers a thumbs up". ess.fi. 19 August 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
7. Henderson, Jason (December 11, 2022). "Barnicoat pips Griggs in Euro Cross U20 thriller". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
8. "Megan Keith Wins U23 by a Huge Margin at Brussels European Cross Country". Runners Gazette. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
9. "Hard result in Lahti - Ilona Mononen found a gear and ran PM gold and a Finnish record". ess.fi. 11 February 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
10. "European Championships". World Athletics. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
11. "Women's 3000m Steeplechase Results - Paris Olympic Games 2024 Athletics". Watch Athletics. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
12. "Ingebrigtsen and Battocletti triumph at European Cross Country Championships in Antalya". World Athletics. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
13. "Finnish Indoor Championships". World aThletics. 19 Feb 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
14. "Battocletti faces strong 10km field at European Running Championships". European Athletics. 7 April 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
15. Broadbent, Chris (29 June 2025). "Youngsters Laros and Mononen win thrilling distance races at Madrid 2025" . Retrieved 30 June 2025.
16. "Iapichino and Fabbri contribute to Italy's victory at European Team Championships". worldathletics.org. 29 June 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
17. Broadbent, Chris (19 July 2025). "Werro smashes championship record to win 800m gold, Mononen wins gritty steeplechase gold". European Athletics. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
18. "Federation completed the squad for the World Championships in Tokyo: the back door to the World Championships is still open for a couple of athletes". yle.fi. 28 August 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.