The Finnish Olympic Committee agrees on the objectives for promoting Finnish physical activity and sport in a joint target document with the Ministry of Education and Culture. The target period 2022–2024 is now coming to an end and the Olympic Committee has reported on the target period to the Ministry. The report is a public document.
The Olympic Committee steers Finnish sport and physical activity. We serve, advocate for and protect the interests of our members and strengthen cooperation to promote elite sports, club activities and a physically active lifestyle.
Digital solutions to support sport
The Suomisport service of the Olympic Committee has grown over the past few years into an important data platform that is used by almost one million Finns. Suomisport serves the needs of sports clubs and sports federations, and user satisfaction with the service has increased steadily in recent years. We also utilize data to strengthen the competitiveness of elite sports, and the development of a data strategy has resulted in new analytics solutions and the 360training service for athletes, combining data from different systems into an easily accessible form.
Active role in international advocacy
In terms of international cooperation, the Olympic Committee took an active role, particularly in relation to the participation of Russia and Belarus in international sports. Active advocacy has improved equality, and European sports policy has been effectively influenced through Nordic cooperation. Finland ranks 20th in the world and second in the Nordic countries after Sweden in terms of international sport policy advocacy.
– We would like to believe that joint Nordic advocacy contributed to the fact that only a few Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to compete in the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, and even they competed as neutral athletes without country codes. This caused heated debate in international sport policy forums, and we stood together with the other Nordic countries in a strong common front, says Taina Susiluoto, CEO of the Olympic Committee.
Aiming for success in elite sports
The elite sports unit supports the success of Finnish athletes and ensures that the best possible support is available for their training and everyday needs. In terms of the biggest advances during the Olympiad, professionalism in sport has increased through greater expertise, elite sport management has undergone reforms both within the Olympic Committee and in networks, advocacy for elite sports has yielded results, and the promotion of dual careers and the development of environments have progressed rapidly.
Close cooperation with sports federations has been maintained to achieve these objectives. The success targets for elite sports were achieved in the events of the Winter Olympic and Winter Paralympic Games, but not in the Summer Olympic and Summer Paralympic Games. The lack of medals at the Paris Olympics, in particular, has led to a reassessment of elite sports at the top level to ensure better success in the future. In team and non-Olympic sports, the objectives were partially achieved.
The activities of the national network of sports academies and coaching centres have been successfully stabilised during the strategy period. These environments are working to promote success in sports and the development of athletes and coaches, and to create opportunities for athletes to pursue a planned dual career. Examples of this include elite athlete-friendly universities, which further improve the opportunities for athletes to combine sport and studies.
Closer cooperation and greater impact in club activities
New Star Clubs have been born and the number of stars has increased significantly in recent years. The Star Club programme, a joint effort between the Olympic Committee, sports federations and regional sport organizations, has built a solid foundation for developing the quality of club activities, and it has also been continuously developed to better support the development of skills and leadership in clubs.
The New Direction for Children’s Sports process was created to respond to the wish of sports federations. Already 40 federations are involved in the network, which is facilitated and coordinated by the Olympic Committee. The development of sports for children under 13 will continue to be a major theme in the coming years and will contribute to promoting the wellbeing and functional capacity of Finns and to increasing the number of future potential elite athletes in a responsible way.
Physically active lifestyle supports society as a whole
The Olympic Committee has been involved in promoting goals related to physical activity in the social debate, and a good example of this is the Get Finland Moving programme included in the Government Programme. The Physically Active Lifestyle unit (Liike ja liikunnallinen elämäntapa, LLE) has worked to promote physical activity and wellbeing. Networks have been built in cooperation, such as the network for Finland with Functional Capacity, involving more than 150 partners.
Embedding sustainability in everything we do
During the target period, the Finnish Olympic Committee has invested heavily in developing sustainability and good governance, prioritizing transparency, equality and environmental responsibility. Activities have focused both on developing the operations of the Olympic Committee and on supporting the sport and physical activity community in their sustainability efforts. In practice, this has been reflected in the updating of the Star Club programme, joining the international climate commitment and building safer environments for athletes and sports clubs. In elite sports, the opportunities for athletes to pursue dual careers have been further improved through elite athlete-friendly universities.
To conclude, Susiluoto states that while many of the targets agreed with the Ministry for 2024 have been achieved, things can always be done better and sometimes crises can lead to better practices.
– Society is constantly changing and international competition is getting tougher all the time. In the report submitted to the Ministry, we have openly described what we have done, where we have succeeded and where we have failed. To support the report, we have produced a number of analyses and a vision for corrective measures. We will discuss these with the Ministry before the end of the year.
– It is clear that the Olympic Committee will be reformed and that top-level elite sports, in particular, is now undergoing an acute reassessment. At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that sports federations have ownership of their own elite sports and other activities. Our member organizations decide what is done in their central organization, i.e. the Olympic Committee. It is good to discuss things openly, extensively and critically and to bear in mind that in NGO-led sports, decision-making will take place within the framework of the autonomy of associations at the meeting of the Olympic Committee membership on 30 November, where a new board will also be elected to pursue the strategic goals, says Susiluoto. At the same time, it is clear that NGOs cannot solve issues on their own, but need to work together with the government in line with good governance.