Leena Pietilä
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Irja Ester Helena Pietilä |
| Other names | Leena Vainio |
| Born | 29 March 1925 |
| Died | 20 May 2014 (aged 89) Mikkeli, Finland |
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Figure skating career | |
| Country | Finland |
| Skating club | Helsingfors Skridskoklubb |
| Retired | c. 1953 |
Irja Ester Helena "Leena" Pietilä, married surname: Vainio (born 29 March 1925 – 20 May 2014) was a Finnish figure skater who competed both in women's singles and pairs. She represented Finland at the 1952 Winter Olympics. At the domestic level, she was a seven-time Finnish national champion in women's singles and a five-time national champion in pair skating with two partners.
Early life
[edit]On 29 March 1925, Pietilä was born in Rauma, Finland.[1][2] She was discovered by Marcus Nikkanen during a trip to teach skaters in smaller towns.[3]
Career
[edit]Pietilä was a figure skater for Helsingfors Skridskoklubb in Helsinki.[2] She was a seven-time Finnish national champion from 1946 to 1953, with her only loss being in 1948 to Kirsti Linna. She also competed domestically in pair skating; she won the national championships in 1947 with Biger Nyman and from 1951 to 1953 and again in 1955 with Lars Björkman.[4]
In 1946, she competed at the Nordic Championships and won the bronze medal.[3] The next year, she placed 16th at the 1947 World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, which was her only appearance at the World Championships.[5]
In 1950, she placed 13th at the European Championships in Oslo, Norway,[1] and she won the silver medal at the 1950 Nordic Championships.[6] The next year, she was again 13th at the 1951 European Championships in Zürich, Switzerland.[1] In March 1951, she was reported to be training in London under coach Arnold Gerschwiler.[7] In November, she entered the Richmond Trophy, where she placed 9th.[8]
She entered in 1952 European Championships in February but withdrew.[9] Later in February, Pietilä represented Finland at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, and finished 20th.[1]
After retiring from competition, Pietilä became an international figure skating judge and coach and joined the board of directors for the Finnish Figure Skating Association.[1][2]
Competitive highlights
[edit]| International | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 |
| Winter Olympics | 20th | |||||||
| World Champ. | 16th | |||||||
| European Champ. | 13th | 13th | WD | |||||
| Nordics | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | ||
| National[4] | ||||||||
| Finnish Champ. | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |
| WD = Withdrew | ||||||||
Personal life
[edit]Pietilä married and changed her surname to Vainio. On 20 May, 2014, she died in Mikkeli, Finland at the age of 89.[1][2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f "Leena Pietilä". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Leena Vainio 1925-2014". hsk.fi (in Finnish). 6 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Skating Around the World". Skating. Vol. 24, no. 1. October 1946. p. 12. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Yksinluistelu/Seniorit" [Finnish national champions] (in Finnish). Finnish Figure Skating Association. Archived from the original (XLS) on 4 June 2014.
- ^ Wakefield, Jr., Lyman (April 1947). "The Championships of the World". Skating. Vol. 24, no. 5. p. 7. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ "Skating Around the World". Skating. Vol. 27, no. 7. May 1950. p. 18. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ "Skating Around the World". Skating. Vol. 28, no. 5. March 1951. p. 23. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ "Richmond International". Skating. Vol. 29, no. 4. February 1952. p. 26. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ "European Championships 1952. Wien, Austria". skating.bplaced.net. Retrieved 26 June 2025.