Vesa Rantanen
Finnish pole vaulter (born 1975)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vesa Rantanen (born 2 December 1975 in Jalasjärvi) is a retired Finnish pole vaulter.
He competed at the World Championships in 1997 and 1999, the 2002 European Championships and the 2004 Olympic Games without ever reaching the final.
Competing for the Minnesota Golden Gophers track and field team, Rantanen won the 1998 pole vault at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships with a jump of 5.55 metres.[1]
His personal best vault is 5.72 metres, achieved in July 2001 in Hamburg. The Finnish record currently belongs to Jani Lehtonen with 5.82 metres.[2]
Competition record
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Finland | |||||
| 1994 | World Junior Championships | Lisbon, Portugal | 11th (q) | 5.00 m[3] | |
| 1997 | European U23 Championships | Turku, Finland | 4th | 5.50 m | |
| World Championships | Athens, Greece | 23rd (q) | 5.45 m | ||
| 1998 | European Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 17th (q) | 5.30 m | |
| 2001 | World Championships | Edmonton, Canada | 20th (q) | 5.50 m | |
| 2002 | European Indoor Championships | Vienna, Austria | 15th (q) | 5.25 m | |
| 2003 | Universiade | Daegu, South Korea | 6th | 5.40 m | |
| 2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 22nd (q) | 5.50 m | |
| 2005 | European Indoor Championships | Madrid, Spain | 11th (q) | 5.60 m | |
| 2010 | European Championships | Barcelona, Spain | 17th (q) | 5.50 m | |
