Draft:Sampo Voutilainen

Sampo Voutilainen

Picture Lassi Palo
Personal information
Full name	Sampo Pekka Vilhelm Voutilainen
Born	(1997-08-27) 27 August 1997 Siilinjärvi, Finland
Sport
Sport	Shooting
Club	Ylivieskan Kuula
Medal record Pistol shooting Representing Finland European Championships 2025 Châteauroux Standard pistol CISM World Championships 2025 Elverum Center fire pistol

Sampo Voutilainen (born 1997) is a Finnish pistol shooter, who represents Ylivieskan Kuula. His competitive events are 10 m air pistol, 25 m rapid fire pistol, 25 m standard pistol, 25 m center fire pistol, 50 m free pistol and 25 m military rapid fire (CISM). Of these events, 10 m air pistol and 25 m rapid fire pistol are Olympic events.

Voutilainen shoots with a Morini CM162EI air pistol, Morini CM84E pistol and Benelli MP90S pistol (center fire and standard pistol).

Sports career

Voutilainen began training in pistol events in the fall of 2023.

Voutilainen began his competitive career in the summer of 2024, when he won the Finnish Championship gold in the sport pistol and standard pistol, as well as silver in the center fire pistol and in 50 m free pistol. In 2024, at his first international competition, the Hungarian Open in Budapest, he placed sixth in the 60-shot mixed team air pistol competition with Vilja-Alina Ahokangas and advanced to the final in the individual air pistol competition, where he placed eighth. In the Hungarian Open, Voutilainen shot his then-own record of 575. A month later, he won competition in Rovaniemi with a new record of 577, breaking the MCS European Championship display limit. At the end of 2024, the Finnish Shooting Sports Association named Voutilainen to the 2025 national team.

Year 2025

At the World Championship and European Championship demonstration competition in the Swedish Cup on 3-5 January 2025, Voutilainen achieved 1st, 2nd and 6th places in the air pistol. In the mixed team competition, Voutilainen won bronze with Elina Silver.

At the European Championship demonstration competition held in Kisakallio in January, Voutilainen shot a score of 579, which was his new record and with which he secured his place in the European Championship in Osijek, Croatia. The next day, Voutilainen increased his record to 581 points and placed first in the basic competition. Voutilainen won the Leppä GP, which concluded the weekend, with a final score of 100.2.

In the high-level international air pistol competition at the H&N Cup in Munich, Germany, Voutilainen placed 15th with a score of 578. Voutilainen's first major competition was the European Championships in Osijek, Croatia, where he achieved 29th place (573) in the 10 m air pistol and 42nd place in the solo competition.

Voutilainen participated in the European and World Championships demonstration competition, the Grand Prix of Liberation in Plzen, Czech Republic, setting a new record of 585 in the 10 m air pistol and placing sixth in the final. Later that day, he also competed in the 25 m standard pistol, where he recorded a score of 571 and placed second. In Plzen, he also competed in the center fire pistol, where he recorded a score of 575 and placed third.

The Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM) organizes the World Military Sports Championships in 25 events. At the Military World Championships in Elverum, Norway, Sampo Voutilainen shot silver in the 25 m center fire pistol with a new record of 586. The previous individual pistol medal for Finland came from the Military World Championships, shot by Jarkko Vainio in 1991. At the same championships, Voutilainen placed seventh in the 60 LS pistol team event and ninth in the 60 LS rapid fire pistol team (team Sampo Voutilainen, Petri Ylinen, Marko Talvitie).

At the Lapua Europe Cup in Tallinn, Sampo Voutilainen placed third in the standard pistol with a score of 566, and Finland also achieved bronze in the team event. At the same championships, Voutilainen placed sixth in the mixed team event in the sports pistol with Vilja-Alina Ahokangas and seventh in the pistol with a score of 578.

At the European Shooting Championships in Chateauroux, France, Voutilainen won the European Championship bronze medal in the standard pistol with a new record of 575, which is the first individual medal won by a Finnish pistol shooter since 1994, when Seppo Mäkinen shot the World Championship bronze in the standard pistol. Voutilainen also shot two fifth places, in the center fife pistol and the 50 m pistol. In the center fire pistol, all five top shooters shot the same result of 583.

At the Finnish 25 m and 50 m pistol shooting championships in August 2025, Sampo Voutilainen won four of the five Finnish men's championships and came second in one event. At the Games, Voutilainen set his own record in the sports pistol (587), standard pistol (577) and rapid fire pistol (561) and also won the Finnish championship in the center fire pistol, and shot silver in the 50 m pistol. Voutilainen was involved in shooting for Ylivieska Kuula for five Finnish team championships.

Future

Sampo Voutilainen, who has only been training purposefully for a few years, has said that his main goal is to compete in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. During 2025, he has improved his 10 m air pistol record several times. The record is now 585, which is only three points behind the Finnish record held by Kai Jahnsson. Air pistol is an Olympic event.

External link

Sampo Voutilainen at the International Shooting Sport Federation