Matti Sutinen

Matti Sutinen took up track and field athletics at a young age, but was only a boy when his development was interrupted by World War II. Thus it was not until 1954 that he began to take part at the Finnish national championships, where he specialized in the pole vault. His career aligned almost exactly with Eeles Landström, however, and thus he never won a national title, but he was selected to represent his country at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics, where Sutinen recorded no mark in the final and placed joint-sixth respectively. In-between, he competed at the 1958 European Championships, where he was joint-19th. His cousin Juha Tikka represented Finland in the 200 metres breaststroke swimming event at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

Personal Best: PV – 4.50 (1960).