Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland across Estonia to the south. Finland covers an area of 338,455 square kilometres (130,678 sq mi) with a population of 5.6 million. Helsinki is the capital and largest city, forming a larger metropolitan area with the neighbouring cities of Espoo, Kauniainen, and Vantaa. The vast majority of the population are ethnic Finns; Finnish, alongside Swedish, are the official languages. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to the boreal in the north. The land cover is primarily a boreal forest biome, with more than 180,000 recorded lakes.
The Finnish men's national ice hockey team, nickname Leijonat / Lejonen, as it is called in Finland, is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the United States, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Sweden.
Kiira Linda Katriina Korpi is a Finnish figure skater. She is a three-time European medalist, the 2010 Trophée Eric Bompard champion, the 2012 Rostelecom Cup champion, a two-time Cup of China medalist, and a five-time Finnish national champion. She retired from competitive skating in August 2015.
Talent Suomi is the Finnish version of the Got Talent format of the program and airs on Nelonen. The idea behind the programme is to search for the most talented and promising entertainment. Talent contest took off for the first time in Finland at the end of September 2007. The programme was originally hosted by Susanna Laine and Martin Coulter and had contemporary magazine editor Katja Ståhl, television presenter and film director Timo Koivusalo, as well as the Finnish National Ballet dancer and choreographer Sami Saikkonen as judges. The prize was €30,000
Yıldız Aras is a Turkish karateka competing in the kumite +60 kg and open divisions. Aras is member of the Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kağıt Spor Kulübü Karate team. As of May 2009, she is world's best in women's kumite open division.
The Finnish national futsal team represents Finland in international futsal competitions. The team is run under supervision of the Football Association of Finland. It has never qualified for the World Cup or the European Championships. On 29.7.2022 rankings Finland is 18th globally and 11th in Europe.
The World Ringette Championships (WRC) is the premier international competition in ringette and is governed by the International Ringette Federation (IRF). Unlike most international competitions, all of the WRC's elite athletes are female rather than male, one of the sport's distinctive features. Competing nations include: Canada, Finland, United States, Sweden, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, with Team Canada and Team Finland having emerged as the sport's top two competing nations. The inaugural year for the WRC was in 1990 and the World Ringette Summit Series took place in Europe in 1998. The 2021 WRC was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The upcoming 2022 World Ringette Championships in Espoo, Finland will be the 14th time the event has been held. Several WRC competitions have been recorded and been made available for viewing online for free.
Meeri Räisänen is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender and member of the Finnish national ice hockey team, currently playing in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Connecticut Whale. As a member of the Finnish national team, she won Olympic bronze medals in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics, World Championship bronze medals in 2015 and 2021, and was named to the World Championship All-Star Team in 2015 and 2016.
The Stadin Derby, or The Helsinki Derby, is the name for a Helsinki association football fixture played between HIFK Fotboll and HJK Helsinki. The name of the derby derives from the common slang word nickname for Helsinki (Stadi), widely used by the locals. Both the teams play at the highest level of football in Finland, in Veikkausliiga. Before 2015, the clubs had not faced each other at the highest level since 1972 when HIFK got relegated from the top league, which was then known as Mestaruussarja.
Helena Ksenia Kuusisto is a Finnish karateka. She represents the Shotokan karate club in Pori, Finland.
Nelli Laitinen is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team. She is signed to play college ice hockey with the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) conference of the NCAA Division I as an incoming freshman for the 2022–23 season.
Elisa Holopainen is a Finnish ice hockey winger and member of the Finnish national team, currently playing in the Finnish Naisten Liiga (NSML) with KalPa Kuopio. She is one of the most dominant players active in the Naisten Liiga and, before turning twenty, had already received the Naisten Liiga trophy for Player of the Year twice, Best Forward three times, and was a four-time All-Star.
Sandra Sánchez Jaime is a retired Spanish karateka. She won the gold medal in the women's kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She is a two-time gold medalist in the women's individual kata event at the World Karate Championships. She also won the gold medal in this event at the European Karate Championships in seven consecutive competitions. She is also recognised by Guinness World Records for winning the most medals in the Karate1 Premier League; she won 35 consecutive medals between January 2014 and February 2020.
Kiyou Shimizu is a Japanese karateka competing in the women's kata event. She won the silver medal in the women's kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She is also a two-time gold medalist at the World Karate Championships and a two-time gold medalist at the Asian Games.
Viviana Bottaro is an Italian karateka. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She has also won numerous medals in the women's individual kata and women's team kata events at the World Karate Championships and the European Karate Championships. She is a three-time bronze medalist in the women's individual kata event at the World Karate Championships. She is also the 2014 European champion in this event.
Karin Sökare is a Swedish karateka. She has a 7th Dan black belt in karate and is a World Games gold medalist.
The Sari Fisk Award is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the player with the best plus–minus at the end of the regular season of the Naisten Liiga.
Alizée Agier is a French karateka. She won the gold medal in the women's kumite 68 kg event at the 2014 World Karate Championships held in Bremen, Germany. She also won the gold medal in this event at the 2019 European Karate Championships held in Guadalajara, Spain.
Titta Keinänen is a Finnish karateka. She is a bronze medalist in the women's kumite +68 kg event at the 2019 European Games and the 2019 European Karate Championships.
The 2007 World Ringette Championships was an international ringette tournament and the 8th edition (VIII) of the World Ringette Championships organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF). The tournament was contested in Ottawa, Canada, between October 30 and November 3, 2007. The competition took place at the Ottawa Civic Centre which has since been renamed, "TD Place Arena" and was broadcast in Canada by Rogers TV.
