Pertti Ukkola
Pertti Olavi Ukkola ( born August 10, 1950 in Sodankylä ) is a Finnish former wrestler. In 1976 he was Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling ( bantamweight ).
Career
Pertti Ukkola began as a teenager in 1960 with the rings. He belonged to the sports club Koo - VeeTampere, where he was coached by Toivo Sillapää. He focused fully on the Greco- Roman style. Since 1968 it belongs to the elite of Finnish wrestler in the lightest weight classes ( fly and bantamweight ). He had recorded in the bantamweight his biggest successes. He was work off about 6 to 7 kg in a position without a great loss of substance before major championships to reach the weight limit for this weight category of 57 kg.
1968 Pertti Ukkola was flyweight first Finnish champion in the seniors. Until 1980, he won this title then seven times. His debut at an international championship he gave in 1970 at the European Championships in Berlin (East). In the flyweight he came here with a win on the 8th Place. In those years he struggled with Risto Björlin for supremacy in the Finnish national team in his weight class. Therefore, it took until 1972 until he came to his next assignment. This was at the Olympic Games in Munich. He had in Munich but pronounced pitch, because after a brief point defeat in his first fight against Jan Michalik of Poland he could not wrestle and retired from unplaced because of an injury.
In 1973 he competed at the European Championships at home in Helsinki. In bantamweight him get it two wins against such strong wrestler like Ivan Frgić from Yugoslavia and Jan Neckar from Czechoslovakia. But defeats against Janos Szönyi from Hungary and Józef Lipień from Poland referred him to 6th place. At the World Cup in 1974 in Katowice him reach bantamweight again two victories. But he was defeated this time against Ivan Frgić and the Soviet world champion Farchat Mustafin, reaching the 8th place.
His first medal at an international championship won Pertti Ukkola, which is now slowly reaching its full rings skills, in 1975 with the 3rd place at the World Championship in Minsk. He needed to five victories. Only Józef Lipień and Farchat Mustafin yet placed before him.
1976 Pertti Ukkola paused at the European Championships, there Risto Björlin was used, but at the Olympic Games in Montreal, he was Finland's starter bantamweight. In Montreal, he triumphed over Boţilă Mihai from Romania, Hans -Jürgen Veil from the FRG, József Doncsecz from Hungary and Farhat Mustafin, but against Józef Lipień he again lost on points. Since Józef Lipień but lost to Mustafin and retired before reaching the final, he was Olympic champion in front of Ivan and Frgić Farchat Mustafin.
The following year in 1977 then became the most successful year of Pertti Ukkolas career, because he was this year in Bursa European Champion and World Champion in Gothenburg bantamweight. He stayed with two championships unbeaten in 13 fights and defeated the entire world at that time the elite Greco- Roman wrestling Bantamgewichtler. It was no wonder that Pertti Ukkola was chosen after these successes at the end of 1977, the Finnish Sportsman of the Year.
All the greater was the check in 1978. He wrestled only at the World Championships this year in Mexico City and retired after defeats against two wrestlers who were not of the global elite, Herbert Nigsch from Austria and Danilo Perez of Guatemala, and finished only 16th Place. Then he paused until the Olympic Games in 1980. He scored only one victory and retired with defeats against Georgi Donew from Bulgaria and Romania Mihai Boţilă off after the 3rd round. He ended up with these results on the 8th Place.
In 1981 he competed at the World Championships in Oslo for the last time at an international championship. He was there again in better shape and only lost in the so-called pool final against Ryszard Świerad from Poland. As a pool Second, he then fought the Second of the other pool Yuri Korchagin from the USSR for the bronze medal and won this fight on points.
After this championship, he ended his international career Ringer.
International success
(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, European Championship EM =, GR = Greco-Roman style, Fl = flyweight, bantamweight = Ba, Fe = featherweight, then 52 kg, 57 kg and 62 kg body weight)
Finnish Championships
Swell
- Documentation of International Wrestling Championships FILA, 1976, pages: E -75, O -93, E -91, W -121, W -126, O -99,
- Journal athletics, numbers: 5/ 69, 6/73, 8 /75
- Journal The wrestler, numbers: 2/77, 07/06/77, 11 /77 9/78, 5/78, 9 /78 8/80 and 9/81
- Website " www.painiliitto.net "