Arsi Ilari Harju is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 shot put

Shot put

The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....

ter with the team Perhon kiri. He won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, 46 events in athletics were contested, 24 for men and 22 for women. There were a total number of 2134 participating athletes from 193 countries.-Men's events:...

 with a distance of 21.29 metres. His personal best is 21.39, which he put in the qualifiers for the same Olympics. Due to his success in the Olympics and elsewhere that year, Harju was named Finnish Athlete of the Year in 2000. Harju was the 12th member to be inducted into the 20 meter club

20 meter club

The 20 meter club 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....

 after he successfully putted the shot 20.16 m in a competition on March 2, 1997 in Tampere

Tampere

Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

.

Harju is currently a national UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Finland.

In 2011, Arsi Harju made a come back after six years in Tucson, USA. His come back result was 18,48.

Major achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Put	Result
1993	Finnish Indoor Championships Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Championships in Athletics, which are known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year...	Kuopio Kuopio Kuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of , of which is water and half forest... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	17.99 (FR19)	3rd
1995	Finnish Outdoor Championships Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Championships in Athletics, which are known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year...	Lapua Lapua Lapua is a town and municipality of Finland.It is located next to the Lapua River in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	19.46	3rd
1996	Finnish Outdoor Championships Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Championships in Athletics, which are known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year...	Tampere Tampere Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	19.46	2nd
1997	Finnish Outdoor Championships Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Championships in Athletics, which are known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year...	Lappeenranta Lappeenranta Lappeenranta is a city and municipality that resides on the shore of the lake Saimaa in South-Eastern Finland, about from the Russian border. It belongs to the region of South Karelia. With approximately inhabitants Lappeenranta is the largest city in Finland... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	19.72	2nd
1997	Finnish Indoor Championships Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Championships in Athletics, which are known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year...	Rovaniemi Rovaniemi Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	19.77	2nd
1998	Finnish Outdoor Championships Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Championships in Athletics, which are known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year...	Oulu Oulu Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world.... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	21.04	2nd
1998	Finnish Indoor Championships Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Championships in Athletics, which are known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year...	Tampere Tampere Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	20.25	2nd
1998	European Indoor Championships 1998 European Indoor Athletics Championships The 25th European Athletics Indoor Championships were held from Friday, 27 February to Sunday, 1 March 1998 at the Palace of Luis Puig, Valencia, Spain.-Men:-Women:-Medal table:-External links:* - Athletix...	Valencia Valencia (city in Spain) Valencia or València is the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain, with a population of 809,267 in 2010. It is the 15th-most populous municipality in the European Union... , Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	20.53	3rd
1999	Finnish Indoor Championships Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Championships in Athletics, which are known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year...	Jyväskylä Jyväskylä Jyväskylä is the capital of Central Finland and the largest city on the Finnish Lakeland, north-east of Tampere and north of Helsinki, on northern coast of lake Päijänne. The city has been continuously one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. The city is surrounded... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	19.52	1st
2000	Finnish Outdoor Championships Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Championships in Athletics, which are known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year...	Lahti Lahti Lahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	20.84	1st
2000	Summer Olympics Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, 46 events in athletics were contested, 24 for men and 22 for women. There were a total number of 2134 participating athletes from 193 countries.-Men's events:...	Sydney, Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	21.29	1st
2001	World Championships 2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event had visited North America...	Edmonton, Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	20.93	3rd
2002	European Championships 2002 European Championships in Athletics The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany.-Track:1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |2010 |...	Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	20.47	4th
2003	World Indoor Championships 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, UK from 14 March to 16 March 2003. It was the first time the Championships had been held in the UK...	Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a... , England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	20.96	4th
2003	Finnish Indoor Championships Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Championships in Athletics, which are known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year...	Kuortane Kuortane Kuortane is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	20.37	2nd
2005	Finnish Outdoor Championships Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Championships in Athletics, which are known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year...	Pori Pori Pori is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäenjoki river, which is the largest in Finland. Pori is the most important town in the Satakunta region.... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	20.21	2nd

External links

• Arsi Harju's webpage on the Perhon Kiri site