Tanja Tuulia Poutiainen (born 6 April 1980) is a retired World Cup alpine ski racer from Finland. She specialized in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom, and was the silver medalist in the women's giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino.
Born in Rovaniemi, Lapland, Poutiainen started skiing at the age of three. She became junior world champion in slalom in 1997 at Schladming, Austria, and also took bronze in the super-G; she made her World Cup debut that March at Vail in the United States. At the 1999 Junior World Championships, she placed third in the giant slalom at Pra-Loup, France.
Poutiainen scored her first World Cup victory – and the first for a female Finnish alpine skier – on 28 February 2004 in a slalom held on home snow in Levi, Finland – the first alpine World Cup race to be held in the country. In the 2005 World Cup season, Poutiainen won the season titles in both the slalom and giant slalom, and placed fifth in the overall standings. Along the way she won three slaloms, a giant slalom and secured ten podium finishes. At the 2005 World Championships, she placed second in the giant slalom behind Anja Pärson of Sweden and second in the slalom behind Janica Kostelić of Croatia – the first alpine World Championship medals for a Finnish female.
The 2009 season saw Poutianen take another World Cup discipline title, in giant slalom, as well as bronzes in slalom and giant slalom at the World Championships in Val d'Isère.
Poutiainen was notable for her consistency, and between January 2007 and March 2011 she successfully completed every World Cup race she entered – a total of 67.
At the end of the 2014 season, Poutiainen had 11 World Cup victories, 48 podiums, and three World Cup discipline titles. She was trained by Michael Bont and lives in St. Gallen, Switzerland. She announced her retirement in March 2014.
World Cup results
Season titles SeasonDiscipline 2005 Giant slalomSlalom2009 Giant slalom
Season standings Season Age Overall Slalom Giantslalom Super-G Downhill Combined 1998 17 73 50 28 — — — 1999 18 95 — 41 — — — 2000 19 2001 20 20 12 12 — — — 2002 21 12 7 10 — — — 2003 22 11 3 14 — — — 2004 23 9 4 5 — — — 2005 24 5 1 1 48 — — 2006 25 12 5 8 — — 26 2007 26 7 6 2 — — 22 2008 27 8 4 4 — — — 2009 28 5 4 1 — — — 2010 29 11 9 5 — — — 2011 30 7 2 3 — — — 2012 31 13 6 13 — — — 2013 32 13 5 22 — — — 2014 33 54 26 23 — — —
Race victories 11 wins – (5 giant slalom, 6 slalom) SeasonDateLocationDiscipline200424 Feb 2004 Levi, FinlandSlalom2005 26 Nov 2004 Aspen, USA Giant slalom28 Nov 2004 Slalom 21 Dec 2004 Altenmarkt, Austria Slalom20 Jan 2005 Zagreb, Croatia Slalom2007 10 Mar 2007 Zwiesel, Germany Giant slalom2008 15 Feb 2008 Zagreb, Croatia Slalom2009 13 Dec 2008 La Molina, Spain Giant slalom2010 24 Oct 2009 Sölden, Austria Giant slalom24 Jan 2010 Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Giant slalom2011 11 Jan 2011 Flachau, Austria Slalom
World Championship results Year Age Slalom Giant slalom Super-G Downhill Combined 1997 16 17 DNF2 — — — 1999 18 24 14 — — — 2001 20 DNF2 13 — — — 2003 22 10 23 — — — 2005 24 2 2 — — — 2007 26 14 14 — — — 2009 28 3 3 — — — 2011 30 6 13 — — — 2013 32 4 15 — — —
Olympic results Year Age Slalom Giant slalom Super-G Downhill Combined 1998 17 18 26 — — — 2002 21 DNF2 11 — — — 2006 25 6 2 — — — 2010 29 6 13 — — — 2014 33 12 14 — — —
References
External links
Tanja Poutianen World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
Tanja Poutiainen at Fischer Skis