Career
His style was to row a steady race and finish with a devastating sprint. In the early portions of the race, he would often trail his rivals by several boat length, only to catch them at the race finish. Karppinen and great German sculler Peter-Michael Kolbe had one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the sport.
Twice, in 1976 and 1984, Kolbe had the lead the entire race, only to be passed in the last few meters of the race by Karppinen.
Kolbe and Karppinen did not face each other in the 1980 Games because West Germany chose to boycott the games to protest the Soviet Union"s invasion of Afghanistan. Karppinen and Kolbe faced each other one last time at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Karppinen would go on to compete in the 1992 Summer Olympics finishing in tenth place.