Tanja Tuulia Poutiainen (born 6 April 1980) is a retired World Cup alpine ski racer from Finland. She specialized in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom, and was the silver medalist in the women's giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino.[1]

Tanja Poutiainen
Poutiainen in 2010
Personal information
Full nameTanja Tuulia Poutiainen
Born (1980-04-06) 6 April 1980 (age 44)
Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland
OccupationAlpine skier
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesGiant slalom, slalom
ClubSanta Claus Ski Team
World Cup debut16 March 1997 (age 16)
Retired16 March 2014 (age 33)
Websitetanjapoutiainen.com
Olympics
Teams5 – (19982014)
Medals1 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams9 – (19972013)
Medals4 (0 gold)
World Cup
Seasons16 – (199899, 200114)
Wins11 – (6 SL, 5 GS)
Podiums48 – (28 SL, 20 GS)
Overall titles0 – (5th in 2005, 2009)
Discipline titles3 – (2 GS, 1 SL)
Medal record
Women's alpine skiing
Representing  Finland
International alpine ski competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 1 0
World Championships 0 2 2
Total 0 3 2
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2006 Torino Giant slalom
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2005 Bormio Giant slalom
Silver medal – second place 2005 Bormio Slalom
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Val d'Isère Giant slalom
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Val d'Isere Slalom
Junior World Ski Championships
Gold medal – first place 1997 Schladming Slalom
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Schladming Super-G
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Pra-Loup Giant slalom

Born in Rovaniemi, Lapland, Poutiainen started skiing at the age of three.[2] She became junior world champion in slalom in 1997 at Schladming, Austria, and also took bronze in the super-G; she made her World Cup debut that March at Vail in the United States. At the 1999 Junior World Championships, she placed third in the giant slalom at Pra-Loup, France.

Poutiainen scored her first World Cup victory – and the first for a female Finnish alpine skier – on 28 February 2004 in a slalom held on home snow in Levi, Finland – the first alpine World Cup race to be held in the country.[2] In the 2005 World Cup season, Poutiainen won the season titles in both the slalom and giant slalom, and placed fifth in the overall standings. Along the way she won three slaloms, a giant slalom and secured ten podium finishes.[2] At the 2005 World Championships, she placed second in the giant slalom behind Anja Pärson of Sweden and second in the slalom behind Janica Kostelić of Croatia – the first alpine World Championship medals for a Finnish female.[2]

The 2009 season saw Poutianen take another World Cup discipline title, in giant slalom, as well as bronzes in slalom and giant slalom at the World Championships in Val d'Isère.[2]

Poutiainen was notable for her consistency, and between January 2007 and March 2011 she successfully completed every World Cup race she entered – a total of 67.[2]

At the end of the 2014 season, Poutiainen had 11 World Cup victories, 48 podiums, and three World Cup discipline titles.[3] She was trained by Michael Bont and lives in St. Gallen, Switzerland. She announced her retirement in March 2014.[3]

World Cup results

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Season titles

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Season Discipline
2005 Giant slalom
Slalom
2009 Giant slalom

Season standings

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Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
slalom
Super-G Downhill Combined
1998 17 73 50 28
1999 18 95 41
2000 19
2001 20 20 12 12
2002 21 12 7 10
2003 22 11 3 14
2004 23 9 4 5
2005 24 5 1 1 48
2006 25 12 5 8 26
2007 26 7 6 2 22
2008 27 8 4 4
2009 28 5 4 1
2010 29 11 9 5
2011 30 7 2 3
2012 31 13 6 13
2013 32 13 5 22
2014 33 54 26 23

Race victories

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11 wins – (5 giant slalom, 6 slalom)

Season Date Location Discipline
2004 24 Feb 2004   Levi, Finland Slalom
2005 26 Nov 2004   Aspen, USA Giant slalom
28 Nov 2004 Slalom
21 Dec 2004   Altenmarkt, Austria Slalom
20 Jan 2005   Zagreb, Croatia Slalom
2007 10 Mar 2007   Zwiesel, Germany Giant slalom
2008 15 Feb 2008   Zagreb, Croatia Slalom
2009 13 Dec 2008   La Molina, Spain Giant slalom
2010 24 Oct 2009   Sölden, Austria Giant slalom
24 Jan 2010   Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Giant slalom
2011 11 Jan 2011   Flachau, Austria Slalom

World Championship results

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  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined
1997 16 17 DNF2
1999 18 24 14
2001 20 DNF2 13
2003 22 10 23
2005 24 2 2
2007 26 14 14
2009 28 3 3
2011 30 6 13
2013 32 4 15

Olympic results

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  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined
1998 17 18 26
2002 21 DNF2 11
2006 25 6 2
2010 29 6 13
2014 33 12 14

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Tanja Poutiainen". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Alpine Skiing – Athlete: Tanja Poutiainen". Fédération Internationale de Ski. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Poutiainen to retire at end of season". Fédération Internationale de Ski. 11 March 2014. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
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