Pertti Karppinen

Pertti Karppinen

Pertti Karppinen in 1980
Personal information
Born	(1953-02-17) 17 February 1953 (age 63) Askainen, Finland
Height	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight	98–102 kg
Sport
Sport	Rowing
Club	Nesteen Soutajat, Naantali
Medal record Men's rowing Representing  Finland Olympic Games 1976 Montreal Single sculls 1980 Moscow Single sculls 1984 Los Angeles Single sculls World Rowing Championships 1979 Bled Single sculls 1985 Hazewinkel Single sculls 1977 Amsterdam Single sculls 1981 Munich Double sculls 1986 Nottingham Single sculls 1987 Copenhagen Single sculls

Pertti Johannes Karppinen (born 17 February 1953) is a retired Finnish rower noted for his three consecutive Olympic gold medals in single sculls in 1976, 1980 and 1984.

Karppinen won the world titles in 1979 and 1985 and once held the world record in indoor rowing. His style was to row a steady race and finish with a devastating sprint. In the early portions of the race, he would often trail his rivals by several boat length, only to catch them at the race finish.

Karppinen and great German sculler Peter-Michael Kolbe had one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the sport. Although Kolbe has more Olympic and World Championship medals than any other single sculler in history, he never won an Olympic gold medal. Twice, in 1976 and 1984, Kolbe had the lead the entire race, only to be passed in the last few meters of the race by Karppinen. Kolbe and Karppinen did not face each other in the 1980 Games because West Germany chose to boycott the games to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

Karppinen and Kolbe faced each other one last time at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Karppinen missed making the finals, but won the consolation race for seventh place. Kolbe again won a silver medal being beaten by prodigy Thomas Lange. Karppinen would go on to compete in the 1992 Summer Olympics finishing in tenth place.

Karppinen and Russia's Vyacheslav Ivanov are the only men to win gold medals in the single scull at three straight Olympics. Besides single sculls, Karppinen also rowed doubles with his younger brother Reima and won a silver medal at the 1981 World Rowing Championships. Currently Karppinen works as a national rowing coach, and also trains his son Juho who competes in rowing at the international level.