Venla Lehtonen
 Lehtonen in 2024 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Born | 10 March 1995 Imatra, Finland |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Biathlon |
Venla Lehtonen (born 10 March 1995) is a Finnish biathlete. She competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics.[1]
Career
Lehtonen began her athletic career in cross-country skiing, competing in national championships in Finland. Lehtonen made her international debut on March 2, 2017, during the 2016/17 IBU Cup season at a competition held in Kontiolahti, Finland. She participated in the individual, sprint, and pursuit events, but finished outside the points standings in all three races. At the start of the 2017/18 season, Lehtonen competed in the opening IBU Cup races in Sjusjøen, Norway. Following these performances, she was promoted to the Finnish World Cup team. Her first World Cup race took place in Hochfilzen, Austria, in mid-December 2017. In the sprint event, she recorded five shooting misses and finished 95th, missing both the pursuit qualification and points standings. Lehtonen achieved her first World Cup top-10 finish in early January 2018 in Oberhof, as part of the Finnish women's relay team. Competing alongside Kaisa Mäkäräinen, Mari Laukkanen, and Laura Toivanen, she helped secure a 7th-place finish, marking the best result for a Finnish women’s relay team since the 6th place at the 2003 Biathlon World Championships.[2] Lehtonen made her Olympic debut at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. She competed in the sprint event, finishing 79th, and was part of the Finnish women's relay team that secured 15th place. In December 2024, Lehtonen achieved a career-best performance by finishing 7th in the pursuit event at the Biathlon World Cup in Annecy, France.[3][4]
Biathlon results
All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.
Olympic Games
0 medals
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | Relay | Mixed relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 2018 Pyeongchang
|
— | 79th | — | — | 15th | — |
World Championships
0 medals
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | Relay | Mixed relay | Single mixed relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 2019 Östersund
|
74th | 45th | 49th | — | 22nd | 10th | — |
 2021 Pokljuka
|
DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — |
 2023 Oberhof
|
— | DNF | — | — | — | — | — |
 2024 Nové Město na Moravě
|
48th | 52nd | 40th | — | 17th | 20th | — |
- *During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
World Cup
| Season | Overall | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Races | Points | Position | Points | Position | Points | Position | Points | Position | Points | Position | |
| 2017–18 | 7/22 | Did not earn World Cup points | |||||||||
| 2018–19 | 10/25 | 5 | 96th | 5 | 66th | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2019–20 | 1/21 | Did not earn World Cup points | |||||||||
| 2020–21 | 7/26 | ||||||||||
| 2021–22 | 3/22 | ||||||||||
| 2022–23 | 8/20 | 1 | 87th | — | — | 1 | 79th | — | — | — | — |
| 2023–24 | 6/21 | Did not earn World Cup points | |||||||||
References
- ^ "Snowboard - Athlete Profile: Venla LEHTONEN - Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games". www.pyeongchang2018.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-11. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
- ^ "Suomen ampumahiihtonaisille viestipaikka olympialaisiin? Sijoittuivat Oberhofissa seitsemänneksi". Ilta-Sanomat. January 7, 2018.
- ^ Henriques, Pablo (December 22, 2024). "Biathlon | "After the last shot, I really realised that I was fighting for a place in the flowers": in the pursuit at Le Grand-Bornand, Venla Lehtonen broke new ground | Nordic Mag | N°1 Biathlon | Nordic skiing". www.nordicmag.info.
- ^ "Venla Lehtonen mahtivireessä – lunasti lupauksensa Kaisa Mäkäräiselle". Yle Urheilu. December 21, 2024.
External links
