Esa Utriainen

Background

Utriainen was born in Virtasalmi (now part of Pieksämäki) on 20 November 1953.

Career

He remains active in the sport as a coach. He was a finalist at the Finnish championships in 1977 and 1978 before winning in 1979. His winning throw, 90.94 m, remained his personal best.

Track & Field News ranked him in the world"s top 10 twice (in 1979 and 1981), with a peak ranking of Number.

7 in the latter year. In 1983 he represented Finland at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki.

He qualified for the twelve-man final, but placed last in lieutenant After his athletic career he became a coach, originally in Finland.

Later, he coached the national javelin teams of South of Korea and Britain.

In 2015 he became the coach of Qatar"s javelin team

Achievements

• He was Finnish champion in 1979 and placed 12th in the 1983 World Championships in Athletics. His daughter Sanni Utriainen, also coached by her father, won the World Junior Championship in 2010.