Double silver medallist Tanja Poutiainen is also Finland's biggest-earning female athlete

Slalom specialist could collect as much as EUR 1 million this season

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By Jussi-Pekka Reponen in Bormio, Italy
     
      On the several occasions in the course of this winter when Alpine skier Tanja Poutiainen has lifted her equipment high above her head in a triumphant gesture, she has where necessary adjusted her hold on the skis to ensure that her hands do not conceal the six-letter name of the manufacturer.
      Last Tuesday, after Poutiainen secured her first World Championship medal, and the first ever won by a Finnish woman, she had hardly come to a stop in the finish area before she beckoned to her back-up team to bring over her red baseball hat with a sponsor's name writ large on the front.
      In the world of Alpine skiing, Poutiainen is a crack professional in more than just her ability to navigate gates on a steeply sloping snow surface. She wishes to adhere to the very best of her abilities to the clauses and the small print of her equipment and sponsorship contracts, since this means income for her.
      Right now, 24-year-old Poutiainen is Finland's highest-paid woman athlete, by a country mile.
     
Her earnings in prize money from this year's FIS World Cup events are currently around EUR 200,000. And there are three competitions left, even if she has already wrapped up the slalom World Cup title with a race to spare.
      On top of this prize money income comes revenue in the form of incentive bonuses from equipment sponsors and in payments from her personal sponsors or "corporate partners".
      The FIS prize sums are a matter of public record, but the other income is a matter for Poutiainen and her sponsors alone.
     
Martti Uusitalo, The Deputy CEO of outdoor apparel and sportswear manufacturer Halti, doubles in his spare time as the man who keeps an eye on contract matters for Poutiainen and her male colleague Kalle Palander. Uusitalo confirms that in the case of a top-flight Alpine skier, prize money accounts for something like one-fifth of total income.
      This means that Poutiainen could be looking at earnings of as much as a million euros this season.
      Poutiainen herself has commented briskly on her financial matters on a couple of occasions: "The winter is a time for counting seconds; come the spring we count the money."
     
Before her historic silver medal in Tuesday's giant slalom, followed up on Friday by another in the slalom, Poutiainen's remarkable consistency this season had won her the FIS slalom World Cup title and a shot at the giant slalom title to go with it.
      There is even an outside chance she could sweep the board and win the overall World Cup, despite not taking part in downhill or super-G events. She has four individual World Cup competition wins to her name this season.
      "In terms of bonuses, the World Championship silver medal is a more valuable achievement than one World Cup victory. Coming out top of the season's World Cup standings is still more lucrative", says Uusitalo.
      He notes that Poutiainen operates as a full-blooded pro in all her contract dealings off the snow.
     
"She is damned good at that side of matters, too. She is also very sharp and careful about what sort of partnership and sponsorship deals she signs up for", goes on Uusitalo.
      He says, to nobody's great surprise, that the business world has of late shown "exceptional interest" in Tanja Poutiainen.
      There are not a great many female Finnish athletes and sportswomen who are at the very top of internationally-recognised sports.
      "This rarity value may be an additional factor. From the advertisers' perspective, women are an important consumer group, and it gives an added kick to the market value of a successful woman athlete", explains Uusitalo.
     
Poutiainen clearly leads the Finnish field in earnings by a wide margin.
      Second place probably goes to the promising young golfer Minea Blomqvist, who collected around EUR 125,000 in prize-money last year from her rookie season on the European Ladies Golf Tour.
      Blomqvist has also attracted the attentions of a good number of personal sponsors.
      It is also more than likely that Poutiainen is the all-time highest-earner among Finnish female sporting personalities, if we make comparisons of annual income from sport.
      Earlier successful women have been involved in sport in a different era and generally in the sort of disciplines where even now there is not as much money changing hands as there is in Alpine skiing.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 11.2.2005

More on this subject:
 Poutiainen has the men in the Finnish team running
 COMMENT: An uncommon Finnish success story

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Weekend Sports Round-Up: Poutiainen adds second silver medal (14.2.2005)
  Tanja Poutiainen delighted at silver medal from FIS World Championships (9.2.2005)

JUSSI-PEKKA REPONEN / Helsingin Sanomat
jussi-pekka.reponen@hs.fi