Place of residence: Seinäjoki, Finland
Coach: Hannu Kangas
He graduated as an electrical engineer in 2006. Now he is a professional javelin thrower.
As an all-rounder young athlete he tried many different sports: Finnish baseball, football, wrestling, Nordic-skiing, track and field. At the age of 14 he settled with Nordic skiing and javelin throwing. His first coach was his father, Esko (he is now Tero’s nutrition adviser), then he started training with Hannu Hangas. He has been focusing on javelin throwing, the event most cherished by Finnish sports fans, since 1997 autumn while he occasionally competed in Nordic-skiing competitions until he was 18.
According to his coach, Tero was not a “super talent”, but his desire to become a good javelin thrower was obvious every moment.
His first international success was his 5th position at the European Junior Championships in 2001. Pitkämäki won the world title in Osaka in 2007.
His training philosophy: “You have to do every little thing as good as possible, even better than all of the other rivals, because they are also training today!”
He ran a marathon in 2004. His spouse, Niina Kelo, represented Finland at the Olympic Games in Beijing in Heptathlon.
The status of javelin throw in Finland is well attested by the fact that Pitkämäki was chosen Sportsman of the Year 2007 in Finland ahead of Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen.