20 meter club

The 20 meter club (20 metrin kerho in Finnish) is an unregistered Finnish association for Finnish shot putters who have put the shot more than 20 meters in an official competition using a 7.26 kg shot for men and a 4 kg for women.

The 20 meter club was founded on April 28, 1983 at Eerikkilä Sports Academy with six men being selected as members. One of the goals of the club is to promote the development of shot putting in Finland.

The club meets twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. In its fall meeting, the club awards the "Kultapoju" or Golden Boy to a promising shotputter. The Golden Boy is a brass shotput that is slightly larger than the current standard shotput, although it weighs less (6.2 kg, orig. 6.6 kg). The first recipient of the Golden Boy award was Kari Töyrylä in 1985; Töyrylä became a member of the club in 1986 after his put of 20.05 m on July 2. The last recipient to date was Niko Hauhia, who also received a EUR 500 stipend for training. The club also awards training grants in order to promote and help athletes develop.

Members

In December 2008, the club had 20 members. Of these, Seppo Simola and Jari Kuoppa are deceased.

Members of the club and the first time they put the shot more than 20 m

Name Distance Date Location
1. Seppo Simola 20.15 July 19, 1972 Turku, Finland
2. Matti Yrjölä 20.04 August 2, 1972 Hämeenkyrö, Finland
3. Bo Grahn 20.09 August 3, 1972 Helsinki, Finland
4. Reijo Ståhlberg 20.38 July 26, 1973 Turku, Finland
5. Markku Tuokko 20.03 August 18, 1979 Mikkeli, Finland
6. Aulis Akonniemi 20.12 July 25, 1982 Ähtäri, Finland
7. Janne Ronkainen 20.02 May 11, 1986 Leselidse, Soviet Union
8. Jari Kuoppa 20.17 June 12, 1986 Ähtäri, Finland
9. Kari Töyrylä 20.05 July 2, 1986 Kauhajoki, Finland
10. Markus Koistinen 20.31 June 13, 1993 Luumäki, Finland
11. Mika Halvari 20.08 August 4, 1993 Kotka, Finland
12. Arsi Harju 20.16 March 2, 1997 Tampere, Finland
13. Timo Aaltonen 20.12 June 20, 1998 Kuortane, Finland
14. Jani Illikainen 20.43 January 23, 1999 Haaparanda, Sweden
15. Ville Tiisanoja 20.06 July 31, 1999 Espoo, Finland
16. Jarkko Haukijärvi 20.20 July 1, 2000 Eurajoki, Finland
17. Tepa Reinikainen 20.01 February 13, 2000 Kuopio, Finland
18. Conny Karlsson 20.45 May 31, 2001 Espoo, Finland
19. Robert Häggblom 20.13 May 20, 2006 Halle, Germany
20. Mika Vasara 20.04 June 4, 2006 Leppävirta, Finland

External links