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.
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.Finnish athletics records
Competition record Representing 1994World Junior ChampionshipsLisbon, Portugal11th (q)5.00 mNo mark in the final1997European U23 ChampionshipsTurku, Finland4th5.50 mWorld ChampionshipsAthens, Greece23rd (q)5.45 m1998European ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary17th (q)5.30 m2001World ChampionshipsEdmonton, Canada20th (q)5.50 m2002European Indoor ChampionshipsVienna, Austria15th (q)5.25 m2003UniversiadeDaegu, South Korea6th5.40 m2004Olympic GamesAthens, Greece22nd (q)5.50 m2005European Indoor ChampionshipsMadrid, Spain11th (q)5.60 m2010European ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain17th (q)5.50 m
References