Maarit Hillevi Lepomäki (born 15 December 1956) is a Finnish sport shooter.[2] She produced a career tally of nine medals, including a silver in skeet shooting at the 2004 ISSF World Cup final in Maribor, Slovenia, and was selected to compete for Finland in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004).[1][3]

Maarit Lepomäki
Personal information
Full nameMaarit Hillevi Lepomäki
Nationality Finland
Born (1956-12-15) 15 December 1956 (age 67)
Pori, Finland
Height1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)
Sport
SportShooting
EventSkeet (SK75)
ClubSatakunnan Ampujat[1]
Coached byLauri Siltavirta[1]
Medal record
Women's shooting
Representing  Finland
World Cup Final
Silver medal – second place 2004 Maribor SK75

Lepomaki was born in Pori. Having pursued the sport for more than two decades, she trained full-time for Satakunta Shooting Club (Finnish: Satakunnan Ampujat) in her native Pori under personal coach Lauri Siltavirta.[1][4]

Lepomaki's major Olympic debut came at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where she wound up to eleventh in the inaugural women's skeet with a score of 68 out of 75 hits, tying her position with Italy's Cristina Vitali.[5][6]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Lepomaki qualified for the second time, as the oldest athlete of the Finnish team (aged 47), in the women's skeet.[7] Less than two years before the Games, she had registered a mandatory minimum score of 65 and eventually won the gold medal at the ISSF World Cup meet in Suhl, Germany, occupying one of the available Olympic quota places for her team.[8] Lepomaki aggregated a total record of 67 out of 75 clay targets to share a three-way tie with 2000 Olympic silver medalist and world record holder Svetlana Demina of Russia and 43-year-old Kim Yeun-hee of South Korea for the ninth position, failing to advance to the final round.[9][10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "ISSF Profile – Maarit Lepomäki". ISSF. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Maarit Lepomäki". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  3. ^ Viitanen, Matti (30 August 2006). "Maarit Lepomäki tyytyväinen skeetin EM-pronssiin" [Maarit Lepomäki satisfies with her skeet bronze at the European Championships] (in Finnish). Suomen Ampumaurheiluliitto. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  4. ^ Viitanen, Matti (29 August 2006). "Haulikon EM-kilpailu alkaa keskiviikkona 30. elokuuta" [World Shotgun Championships begin on Wednesday, August 30] (in Finnish). Suomen Ampumaurheiluliitto. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Sydney 2000: Shooting – Women's Skeet" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 98–99. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Lopussa tuli jumi" [The end came a stall] (in Finnish). MTV Finland. 21 September 2000. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Olympiavalinnoissa laatu selätti määrän" [Olympic selection outnumbered the athletes] (in Finnish). MTV Finland. 2 August 2004. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Marit Lepomäki gewinnt Skeet im Stechen" [Maarit Lepomäki celebrates her victory in the skeet] (in German). Schwäbische Zeitung. 30 August 2002. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Kurzer, Hungary's Igaly claim golds". ESPN. 20 August 2004. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  10. ^ "Shooting: Women's Skeet Prelims". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
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