Hall of Fame

  • Tuomas Sammelvuo

    He has won CEV Champions League in 2005.

    Tuomas Sammelvuo (born February 16, 1976 in Pudasjarvi) is a former professional volleyball player from Finland

    Sammelvuo is still only Finnish male volleyball player who has won CEV Champions League (2005). He has also won two times France volleyball A1-league (1999, 2005). With 296 played national team games in Finnish national team he is second most national team games played player in Finnish volleyball history.

  • Pavel Kulizhnikov

    He won the men's 500 meters event in the World Championship in 2015.

    Pavel Kulizhnikov (born 20 April 1994) is a Russian speed skater. He won the men's 500 metres event at the 2015 World Single Distance Championships as well as the 2015 World Sprint Championships, becoming the youngest winner since speed skating icon Eric Heiden of the United States.

    In 2015, he became the first speed skater to finish the 500 meter in under 34 seconds with a world record of 33.98. Kulizhnikov is also the current holder of the Russian 1000 m record. At the 2016 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships, Kulizhnikov won the men's 500 m lapses and 1000 m, becoming the first man to win 500m and 1000m gold at the same speed skating World Single Distances Championships.

  • Karina Kukkonen

  • Alexey Petukhov

    His best World Cup finishes were two second places, both in sprint events in 2009.

    Alexey Yevgenyevich Petukhov (born 28 June 1983) is a Russian cross-country skier who has competed since 2002.

    His best World Cup finishes were two second places, both in sprint events in 2009, until December 2011, when he won a skate sprint in Davos, Switzerland.

    Petukhov also finished ninth in the sprint event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec.

    Petukhov won bronze with Nikolay Morilov in the Team Sprint at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

  • Anette Sagen

    Won the Continental Cup for women all seasons between 2004/05 and 2008/09.

    Anette Sagen, born 1985 in Mosjoen, is a former ski jumper. She won the Continental Cup for women every year from 2004/05 to 2008/09; a total of 42 race victories for the cup, which at the time equaled the World Cup for men. Sagen won her first World Cup in January 2013.

    She has won six championships in big ski jump hill size, seven championships in normal hill, and two championships in medium hill. She has the jump record for women at the old Holmenkollen Ski Jump with a distance of 128 yards. In 2004 she jumped 174.5 m at Vikersund. Anette Sagen has been an active advocate of open access for women to jump on the big hills, and she took bronze in first World Championships for women in 2009.

  • Charlotte Kalla

    Has participated in two Olympic Games and has received a total of five medals, including two gold.

    Marina Charlotte Kalla, born in 1987 in Tärendö, is a skilled and explosive cross country runner. In February 2006, Marina Kalla won her first junior world championship gold medal when she won the 10 km Skiathlon. Her international breakthrough at senior level was when she won the Tour de Ski in 2007/08.

    Charlotte Kalla has participated in two Olympic Games and has received a total of five medals, including two gold. At the World Championships, she has also received five medals including one gold. She has participated in nine seasons in the World Cup with 23 pedestal finishes including three wins.

    In 2008 she was given the Jerring Award after winning the Tour de Ski. At the Sports Gala in 2011, Charlotte Kalla was appointed Sportswoman of the Year 2010.

  • Sofia Mattsson

    Won two World Junior Championship gold medals and two European Championship gold medals.

    Sofia Mattsson, born in 1989 in Gällivarre, is a talented and powerful weightlifter. She has competed in different weight classes from 51 to 59 kg.

    Since 2000, Sofia Mattsson has won 11 Swedish Championship gold medals, two World Junior Championship gold medals, two European Championship gold medals, two European Championship silver medals, and a European Championship bronze medal. At the World Championships in Baku in 2008 she qualified for the 2008 Olympics, where she came in 12th.

    At the World Championships in 2009, she won all the matches without losing a single point. This was her first gold medal on a senior level. At the World Championships in 2011 she reached the finals. At the European Championships in Tbilisi in 2013, she won gold in the 55-kilogram class after defeating the Greek Maria Prevolaraki in the final by 3-0.

  • Larisa Kruglova

    Her best result is the Olympic silver medal from Athens in 2004 in the 4 x 100 m relay.

    Larisa Nikolaevna Kruglova, born in 1972 in Murmansk, is a Russian sprinter who specializes in the 60 m and 100 m sprint. Her best result is the Olympic silver medal from Athens in 2004 in the 4 x 100 m relay. She also got bronze medals in both the European and World Championships in the 4 x 100 meters relay.

    Kruglova has worked as a trainer for athletics at the Murmansk regional Olympic special school for children and juniors. She has been awarded the medal «For Services to the Motherland, II class» and honored as “The Master of Sports.” She is currently chairwoman of the Committee for Family, Youth, and Sport in the regional Duma.

  • Morten Gamst Pedersen

    Has been capped 76 times and has scored 16 goals for Norway.

    Morten Gamst Pedersen, born in 1981 in Vadsø, is a goal keeper’s nightmare and left winger who is known for his dangerous free kicks and accurate passes. Pedersen had his real breakthrough during the spring of 2004. His great performance with the Tromso Football Club led to a growing interest from clubs in Europe and the transition to Blackburn Rovers became a reality in August 2004.

    Morten Gamst Pedersen has been capped 76 times and has scored 16 goals for Norway. Pedersen is with the humorous boy band The Players who amongst other things released a hit in conjunction with the Soccer Against Crime campaign. He has been awarded The Finnmark County and Municipality Culture Award and voted the Vadsø Man of the Year. Morten Pedersen has also been an ambassador for hosting the Winter Olympics in Tromsø.

  • Eero Mäntyranta

    Participated in four Olympics Games and received three gold, two silver, and two bronze medals.

    Eero Mäntyranta, born in 1937 in Pello, was one of the most awarded cross-country skiers Finland has ever fostered. He learned to ski when he learned to walk and got a good foundation when he had to ski to school. Mäntyranta participated in four Olympics Games and received three gold, two silver, and two bronze medals. In addition, he acquired two gold, two silver and a bronze medal in the World Championships.

    He is a great role model for many of today’s young athletes. There is a museum in honor of the cross-country star in his hometown Pello. With great joy and zeal he trained and mentored children and juniors. Eero Mäntyranta has been awarded the Holmenkollen Medal and the Ministry of Education’s Professional Sports Award.

  • Sergey Rozhkov

    Won three single World Cup races.

    Sergey Rozhkov, born in 1972, is a former biathlete from Murmansk, known for his speed. He started his sports career at twelve years old and achieved his first victory in the World Cup in 1995. Later he won a further three single World Cup races. His best season was in 2004/05 when he finished fifth overall.

    Rozhkov has a total of one gold and three silver medals from the World Championships and three gold and two silver medals from the European Championships. During the Olympic torch’s journey to Sochi, Rozhkov was given the honor to carry it through Murmansk.

  • Reima Virtanen

    During the European Championships in 1971 he won a bronze medal, he won a silver medal in the 1972.

    Reima Virtanen, born in 1947 in Kemi, began his boxing career in 1959 and won the Finnish championship three times. In 1969 Virtanen made his debut at the European Championships in Bucharest and won the bronze medal. He won the quarter-finals over the British champion Dave Wallington. In the semifinals, he lost to Yugoslavia champion Mate Parlov.

    During the European Championships in 1971 he won a bronze medal, and he won a silver medal in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Virtanen won 200 fights during his career, including 30 international tournaments. Virtanen was often called Rema or Kila during his career. Virtanen was voted Finland’s best fighter three times and Sportsman of the Year twice. He also won the Ministry of Education’s Professional Sports Award.

  • Anna Bogaliy

    Has two gold medals in the Olympics.

    Anna Iwanowna Bogaliy-Titovets, born in 1979 in Vozhega, is a biathlon champion with precision. She has been awarded two gold medals in the Olympics and three gold, three silver and two bronze medals in the World Championships. Bogaliy started early in the biathlon and achieved good results as a junior.

    Already in her first season as a senior, she became world champion with the Russian relay team at the World Championships. The Olympics in 2002 was a setback for Bogaliy, but in 2004 she came back strongly in the World Championships with silver in the sprint and bronze in the pursuit. The 2003/04-season was her best when she also won her first two World Cup races. In the Olympics in 2006 she took gold with Russia’s relay team.

  • Johan Fransson

    Won the gold medal in the World Championships in 2013.

    Carl Johan Fransson, born in 1985 in Kalix, is a great hockey player with a lot of offensive firepower. Fransson is creative and not afraid to challenge his opponent. He currently (2014) plays in the playoffs with the Luleå HF club.

    Johan Fransson had his breakthrough in 2009-10 when he made 11 goals and 19 assists for a total of 30 points in 54 games in the playoffs. In international sports, he played two tournaments in the World Junior Championships and twenty appearances with the Swedish national ice hockey team. The highlight of his national team career came when his team won the gold medal in the World Championships in 2013.

  • Tanja Poutiainen

    Took a total of two World Cup silver medals, two World Championship bronze and an Olympic silver.

    Tanja Poutiainen, born 1980, is a alpine skier from Rovaniemi. In 1997 she became junior world champion in the slalom and took bronze in the Super-G. The same year she participated in her first World Cup slalom run.

    Poutiainen got her real breakthrough to the world’s leading skiers during the season 2003/04, when she on home ground in Levi won her first World Cup slalom. She took a total of two World Cup silver medals (in slalom and giant slalom) and two World Championship bronze medals (in slalom and giant slalom) and an Olympic silver medal in giant slalom.

    Poutiainen also played age specific football. She won three Finnish championships with Rovaniemi Football Club. In 2008 Poutiainen was awarded the prize for this year’s model athlete at the Norwegian Sports Gala.

  • Vegard Ulvang

    Won six Olympic and eight World Championship medals.

    Vegard Ulvang, born in 1963, is a former cross country skier from Kirkenes. He won six Olympic and eight World Championship medals – a total of five gold, four silver, and five bronze.

    Ulvang won the World Cup once and had a total of 9 race wins. Ulvang was awarded The King’s Cup in 1989, the Holmenkollen Medal in 1991, and the Sports Journalists’ Statuette in 1992. During the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994 he took the Olympic oath.

    After his active career ended in 1997, Ulvang launched a company in sportswear. In 2006 he became chairman of the Cross Country Committee of the International Ski Federation FIS.