Seppo Simola

{{short description|Finnish shot putter}}

Seppo Antero Simola (27 July 1936 in Somero - 9 March 2003) was a Finnish shot putter, who represented Turun Riento, weighing in at 128 kg and standing 191 cm tall. He competed in the men's shot put at the 1972 Summer Olympics.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/si/seppo-simola-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417181507/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/si/seppo-simola-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |title=Seppo Simola Olympic Results |accessdate=7 January 2018}}

He was the first Finn to put the shot more than 20 m in an official competition when he put it 20.15 metres in Turku, Finland on 19 July 1972; this was of course his personal best and a national record. Even though Simola was a five-time Finnish champion outdoors and three-time champion indoors, he never placed higher than 16th in the Olympics and 11th in the European Championships.

Simola was one of the first six Finns originally admitted to the 20 meter club when it was founded in April 1983.

Major achievements

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"

!Year

!Tournament

!Venue

!Put

!Result

1963

|Finnish Outdoor Championships

|

|18.00

|bgcolor="gold" align="center" | 1st

1964

|Finnish Outdoor Championships

|

|18.09

|bgcolor="gold" align="center" | 1st

1966

|Finnish Indoor Championships

|

|17.80

|bgcolor="gold" align="center" | 1st

1970

|Finnish Outdoor Championships

|

|18.93

|bgcolor="gold" align="center" | 1st

1971

|Finnish Indoor Championships

|

|18.64

|bgcolor="gold" align="center" | 1st

1971

|Finnish Outdoor Championships

|

|18.98

|bgcolor="gold" align="center" | 1st

1972

|Finnish Indoor Championships

|

|18.87

|bgcolor="gold" align="center" | 1st

1972

|Finnish Outdoor Championships

|Joensuu, Finland

|19.81

|bgcolor="gold" align="center" | 1st

References