 Kainulainen at the 2024 World Championships | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| National team |  Finland |
| Born | 22 February 1999 Finland |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Floorball |
| League | F-liiga (2016–) |
| Team |
|
Medal record | |
Justus Kainulainen (born 22 February 1999) [1] is a Finnish floorball player and national team member. He is a 2024 world champion, two-time Finnish champion, and was named the world's best floorball player in 2024. He has been playing in the F-liiga since 2015.
Kainulainen began his professional floorball career in 2015 with the club LASB, where his older brother Rasmus also played. In his very first season, the team was promoted to the Finnish top league. [2] He played two more seasons in the league with the club before transferring to Oilers in 2018. [3]
His brother followed him to the new team a year later. [4] In the 2020–21 season, they reached the finals with Oilers. [5] In the 2023–24 campaign, Kainulainen was the top scorer of the playoffs and led the team to their first championship title in 18 years. In the decisive seventh game of the final series, he scored three goals, the last being the game-winner. [6] [7] In the following season, they successfully defended the title, although Kainulainen did not play in the final match due to injury. [6] [8]
Kainulainen represented Finland at the 2017 Under-19 World Championships, where he led the Finnish team to a successful title defense as the tournament's top scorer. In the final match, he scored four goals and assisted another. [3]
He made his debut for the men's national team at the postponed home 2020 World Championships held in Finland, where the team failed to defend their title. Kainulainen scored a hat trick in the final and was named to the All-Star Team. [9] [10] He won his first world title at the 2024 championship, where, as the team’s top scorer, he helped overturn a 0–4 deficit in the medal match with two goals and an assist. [11]
| Year | Team | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Finland U-19 | WFC U-19 |  |
| 2020 | Finland | WFC |  |
| 2022 | Finland | WFC |  |
| 2024 | Finland | WFC | |
In 2024, Kainulainen was named the world's best floorball player in a Innebandymagazinet Award. [12] [13]
