20
Kristiina Mäkelä
* 20 November 1992 Orimattila
Present residence: Helsinki
185 cm, 68 kg
Club: Orimattilan Jymy
Coach: Suren Ghazaryan
Event: Triple jump
Kristiina Mäkelä’s main event in her junior years was high jump. She switched to triple jump at the age of 16, and
success was not long in coming: in 2009 Kristiina won silver at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Tampere,
Finland, and in the same year she took her first Finnish championship title at senior level. In the Olympic year 2016
she has already finished sixth at the World Indoor Championships in Portland and ninth at the European Champion-
ships in Amsterdam. Kristiina studies veterinary science at the University of Helsinki.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
2009 EYOF silver.
2011 EurU20Ch silver.
2012 EurCh no result in qualifying.
2015 WCh 13th. EurIndoorCh 8th.
2016 EurCh 9th. WIndoorCh 6th.
PERSONAL BEST:
14.20 indoor (2015 & 2016).
14.06 outdoor (2015)
Nooralotta Neziri
* 9 November 1992 Turku
Present residence: Pori
174 cm, 63 kg
Club: Turun Urheiluliitto
Coach: Jussi Ihamäki
Event: 100 m hurdles
Nooralotta Neziri has dominated the Finnish women’s hurdling scene for the past Olympiad. In 2015 she became the
first Finn to break the 13-second barrier. Rio de Janeiro will be Nooralotta’s first real Olympic Games; in 2009 she won
gold at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Tampere, Finland. Her other major achievement in the junior ranks was
victory at the European U20 Championships in Tallinn in 2011. Nooralotta is Macedonian Albanian from her father’s side.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
2009 EYOF gold.
2011 EurU20Ch gold.
2012 EurCh heats.
2013 WCh semi-finals. EurU23Ch bronze.
2014 EurCh heats.
2015 WCh heats.
2016 EurCh semi-finals.
PERSONAL BEST:
12.81 (2016)