Jani Tanskanen

Last updated

Jani Tanskanen
Born (1975-11-28) 28 November 1975 (age 49)
Jyväskylä, Finland
Gymnastics career
Discipline Men's artistic gymnastics
Country
represented		 Flag of Finland.svg Finland
Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1997 Lausanne Horizontal bar
World University Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2003 Daegu Horizontal bar

Jani Tanskanen (born 28 November 1975) is a Finnish former artistic gymnast. He is the 1997 World Champion on horizontal bar, and the first Finnish gold medalist at the World Championships since 1950. He competed internationally for over two decades but never competed at the Olympic Games. After finishing his gymnastics career, he served in multiple positions at the International Gymnastics Federation.

Contents

Gymnastics career

Tanskanen began gymnastics when he was six years old and became a member of the Finnish junior national team five years later. He began competing at the senior level in 1991. [1] He competed at the 1994 World Championships but did not advance into any finals. [2]

At the 1997 World Championships, he won the gold medal on the horizontal bar with a score of 9.700, [3] marking Finland's first gold medal at the World Championships since 1950. [4] At the 1998 European Championships, he finished ninth in the all-around and seventh in the horizontal bar final. [5] Then at the 1998 Goodwill Games, he finished eighth in the horizontal bar final. [6]

Tanskanen finished 19th in the all-around at the 2000 European Championships. [7] He qualified for the horizontal bar final at the 2001 World Championships but withdrew, citing an injury. He later claimed that he was not actually injured, but he withdrew because he felt the score he received in the qualifications was undeserved, and he wanted to give teammate Jari Monkkonen the chance to compete in a final. [8] He won the horizontal bar silver medal, behind Andriy Mykhailychenko, at the 2003 Summer Universiade. [9]

Tanskanen retired from gymnastics in 2008 after failing to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics. [10] [4]

Post-gymnastics

Tanskanen began working for the Finnish Gymnastics Federation immediately after his retirement. [4] In 2009, he was elected to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) Athletes’ Commission as the men's artistic gymnastics representative. [1] He served two terms as president of the Commission, which also made him a voting member of the FIG Council and Executive Committee. [11] He stepped down from the presidency in 2017 after being elected to the Executive Committee and was replaced by Liubov Charkashyna. [12] He served as an "athlete role model" at the 2010 and 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. [13] [8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Jani Tanskanen elected as a member of the FIG Athletes' Commission". Asian Gymnastics Union . 11 October 2009. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  2. ↑ "30th World Championships Men's artistic gymnastics Brisbane (AUS) April 19 - 24, 1994". Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  3. ↑ "33rd World Championships Artistic Gymnastics Horizontal Bar – Men's Finals". Gymnastics Results. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Artistic Gymnastics flashback: Jani Tanskanen (FIN)". International Gymnastics Federation . 3 October 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  5. ↑ "European Championships 1998 All-Around Final Results" (PDF). Gym Media. 23 May 2000. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  6. ↑ "1998 Goodwill Games Men's EF". Gymn Forum. 17 November 2001. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  7. ↑ "2000 European Championships Men's AA". Gymn Forum. 16 January 2004. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Jani Tanskanen and Mutual Respect". Global Sports Development. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  9. ↑ "2003 University Games Men's EF". Gymn Forum. 24 January 2004. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  10. ↑ "Maailmanmestari Jani Tanskanen voimisteli viimeistä kertaa rekillä" [World champion Jani Tanskanen performed gymnastics for the last time]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  11. ↑ "Jani Tanskanen re-elected!". GYMmedia International. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "New President for the FIG Athletes Commission". International Gymnastics Federation . 28 February 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  13. ↑ "Jani Tanskanen shares his thoughts on the Youth Olympic Games". International Olympic Committee . 23 August 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
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