Get to know the nominees for the Espoo Sports Gala – Vote for the Espoo athlete, team and role model of the year

The voting is open from 18 December 2024 to 15 January 2025. All awardees will be announced and awarded at the Espoo Sports Gala in February 2025.

The categories of the public vote are:

Ann-Marie Marschan is an Espoo-based cheerleader who won bronze at the 2024 Cheerleading World Championships. A long-term member of Finland's national cheerleading squad, Marschan is one of the few athletes to win four world championships in competitive cheerleading. In addition to the WC bronze, Marschan won gold in both the Finnish Championships and the European Championships in 2024 with her club team Hac Elite.

Esport Oilers captain Justus Kainulainen won the Finnish floorball championship in the spring, being the most valuable player of the serieschosen by the players and the best attacker of the season as chosen by the experts. In December, he won the floorball World Championships. Kainulainen recorded 2+1 performances in the exciting World Cup final and was Finland’s most powerful player in the games. 

Suvi Koikkalainen is one of Finland's most successful athletes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the 2024 Finnish Champion. In the past year, Koikkalainen also claimed gold in the NoGi class at the Finnish Championships and silver in the Gi class at the Finnish Open. Over her career, Koikkalainen has won a total of 14 Finnish Championships and 21 major competitions of the Finnish Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (national competitions and Finnish Opens). Of these, 12 golds have been at the highest level in Finland (women's Elite). Koikkalainen has also won 4 silver and 9 bronze medals. According to the Finnish Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation's statistics, Koikkalainen boasts an 82% win rate over her career. In terms of Finnish major competition wins, she ranks tied 4th in both men and women and 2nd in women.

Joakim Oldorff is the Finnish National Badminton Champion in men's doubles in 2024, 2023 and 2021. Over the past year, Oldorff has won bronze at the European Championships and gold at the Yonex Estonian International. He was also awarded a wild-card entry into the Arctic Open, which was part of the Badminton World Tour in Finland in October and featured almost all the world's top 30 players. 

In 2024, rhythmic gymnast Emmi Piiroinen won senior all-around gold at both the Finnish Championships and the Nordic Championships. In April, Piiroinen reached the World Cup Hoop Final as the only rhythmic gymnast from Finland, where she placed sixth. Piiroinen is also part of the Finnish Rhythmic Gymnastics National Team and represents the Espoo-based gymnastics club Olarin Voimistelijat.

Emilia Soini won bronze at the European Individual Closed Squash Championships for the second year in a row. In 2024, Soini also won her 9th personal Finnish Championship. In spring, Soini was part of the women's national squash team that got promoted back to Division 1 at the ESF European Team Championships in Switzerland. Currently (December 2024), Soini sits 57th in the world rankings and seeks a place at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. She is a product of Espoo Squash Rackets Club.

Valley Bay Synchro, Espoon Jäätaiturit: Valley Bay Synchro, a junior synchronized skating team that competes in the national SM junior series, won the Finnish Championship and the ISU Challenger Series Trophy d'Ecosse competition in 2024 and bagged a gold medal in the capital region’s regional championships. As the crown of the season, the team was named as the primary or FIN1 team to represent Finland at the Junior World Championships, where the team finished fifth, despite being first timers. The team of Espoon Jäätaiturit was also the first Espoo-based team in the World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships.

Men's basketball team, Tapiolan Honka: Tapiolan Honka's men's team nearly dominated the 1A division and got promoted to the highest tier of Finnish basketball. The team has an excellent team spirit, and the games attracted a lot of people to the stands. Many of the players have gone through Honka's academy, and the club has built a pathway for juniors to reach the highest level.

Men's first team, Esport Oilers: The men's floorball team of Esport Oilers brought the Finnish Championship back to Espoo after an 18-year break. They sealed the win in the seventh, decisive final 52 seconds before the final whistle. The team has continued their great form in autumn 2024 by competing for the league lead. Esport Oilers players have also played a key role in the Floorball World Championships in December.

Youth Jukola 1st team, Espoon Suunta: Espoon Suunta's youth team rose to the podium once again by taking second place at Youth Jukola, world's largest youth orienteering relay. The silver-winning team featured Anni Jantunen, Eero Martomaa, Viljami Veikkola, Miina Kankaanpää, Juuso Laininen, Anni Mäki-Hokkonen and Aarne Kemppainen, who are between the ages of 14 and 18.

Men's water polo team, Cetus Espoo: In 2024, Cetus Espoo's men's water polo team won the Finnish Championship and the Nordic Club Championship. The 2023–2024 season also included the Suomen Cup, which Cetus Espoo won in December 2023.

C boys, Espoon Pesis: In the 23–24 season, the C boys of Espoon Pesis won a historic silver medal in the Finnish Baseball Championships. This was the first time for an Espoo-based boys' team to win a national medal. The C boys cleared their way to the finals as underdogs, where they suffered a narrow 1–0 defeat against Kouvola. This brought a lot of fame and fortune to Espoo from other traditional baseball towns.

In 2024, wheelchair racer and basketball player Sini Paukkeri broke the 30-year-old Finnish record in the 3,000-meter wheelchair race (15:53.71). Paukkeri has represented Finland in several international competitions and plays for the Parasudet national team. In addition, Paukkeri has been part of the Finnish Paralympic Committee's Stars of the Future group, and currently she is a member of the Athletes Committee of the Paralympic Committee. Paukkeri has advocated for understanding the diversity of athletes and professional sports career.

Claudia Nystrand has been promoting the physical activity and inclusion of multinational women and girls for a long time. She has served as the Executive Director of the Monaliiku organisation for 11 years and moved from Romania to Finland in 2004. Almost 200 women and their families participate in the organisation's activities each week.

Hanne Hilo is a young orienteerer from Espoo who combines elite sports and university studies in astrophysics in an exemplary manner and serves as a role model for many people in dual careers. Hilo participates in Espoon Suunta's club activities in both course planning and orienteering training. In the past year, Hanne placed 3rd in the relay and 13th in the middle distance at the World University Orienteering Championships. She was also part of the best Finnish team in the TioMilan orienteering relay, which placed 7th.

Golfer Mikko Korhonen's professional career lasted 20 years and ended in 2024. In those 20 years, Korhonen played in nearly 400 professional tournaments, 257 of the at the highest level in Europe. Among other things, Korhonen holds two wins at the European Tour: Austria 2018 and China 2019. He peaked 84th in the world rankings. Korhonen was known for his accuracy and exceptional reliability. In the last years of his career, Korhonen founded the 59 Fund, a foundation that financially supports young Finnish golfers who have turned professional in the early stages of their careers.

Alongside her food science studies at the University of Helsinki, artistic swimmer Iiris Nurmi trains at the top, aiming for the European and World Aquatics Championships in 2025. By her example, Nurmi demonstrates that it is possible to be a top athlete also in smaller sports and serves as a role model of a swimmer with a dual career. In addition to competing, Nurmi coaches children in artistic swimming and shares her passion with young swimmers. In season 23–24, Nurmi reached a historic 7th place in the Duet Free final at the European Championships for adults together with Mari Moilala.

Vote here.(external link, opens in a new window)