Matti Pitkänen is a former Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 cross-country skier who competed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He won two medals in the 4 x 10 km at the Winter Olympics with a gold in 1976 and a bronze in 1980. He also finished 6th in the 30 km at the 1980 Winter Olympics

1980 Winter Olympics

The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...

.

Pitkänen also won a silver medal in the 4 x 10 km at the 1978 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

1978 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1978 took place February 18-26, 1978 in Lahti, Finland. This was Lahti's record fourth time hosting the event after previously doing so in 1926, 1938, and 1958...

 in Lahti

Lahti

Lahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...

. He also finished 4th in the 15 km, 30 km, and 50 km events at those same games.

Pitkänen won the 50 km event at the Holmenkollen ski festival

Holmenkollen ski festival

The Holmenkollen Ski Festival is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. It takes place in March and has been arranged every year since 1892, except for 1898 and during World War II...

 in 1978.

External links

• Holmenkollen winners since 1892 - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file