Enni Virjonen targets Olympics after world heptathlon gold

Enni Virjonen, 19, is targeting the Olympic Games after winning gold in the under-20 world heptathlon championships, Yle reports. She says she believes she could have a strong chance of success at Brisbane 2032, while also hoping to qualify for Los Angeles 2028.

Virjonen returned to Finland from the United States last week as a world champion. She was greeted by well-wishers at Paavo Nurmi Stadium in Turku, where her mother and coach, Petra Virjonen, also received congratulations.

Virjonen said large celebrations were not really her style, although she had gone for a meal at her grandparents’ home. After the medal celebrations, she has returned to training.

Her gymnastics background remains visible in her workouts. At the stadium, she demonstrated a signature exercise using metal parallel bars, rising from a squat into a handstand. Petra Virjonen gave instructions as she activated her legs, core and arms.

“The interaction is very open, perhaps sometimes too open, but I have found it really good. As an athlete, I always want to know why we are doing an exercise and what its purpose is,” Enni Virjonen said.

Both of Virjonen’s parents, Petra and Tero Virjonen, are former elite track and field athletes. Virjonen said she had wanted to pursue athletics seriously since childhood, joking that she had already been worried at the age of nine about whether her parents would eventually come to watch her at the Olympics.

Consistency is Virjonen’s strength in the heptathlon, while her varied sporting background also helps. Developing seven events at the same time is demanding, but training for one event can benefit another. Long jump and hurdles, for example, can be combined in training.

“Sometimes it feels as if the week runs out of days. But not every event has to fit into the same week,” Virjonen said.

In addition to her mother, Virjonen is coached in shot put by Mika Lönnblad and in javelin by Raimo Hukkanen-Laaksonen and Tuomas Laaksonen. Petra Virjonen follows the event-specific training so she can help with technical aspects during the heptathlon.

Training also makes use of data analysis to track progress. Petra Virjonen is not only her daughter’s coach but also a specialist researcher in data analytics at the University of Turku.

Olympic ambitions and school

After winning the junior world title, Virjonen will move on to senior competition next year. Her goal is steady development and, ultimately, the Olympics.

“I believe that in Brisbane in 2032 I will have the opportunity to succeed. I certainly hope to make it to Los Angeles as well,” she said.

Finland has enjoyed strong results in the women’s heptathlon at junior championships in the 2020s. Saga Vanninen has won several titles, while Virjonen won the under-18 European title in 2024, took under-20 European bronze in 2025 and won the under-20 world title in 2026. Alisa Launonen won the under-18 European title in 2026.

Vanninen has moved to Turku and has previously told Yle that she hopes she and Virjonen will be able to train together at times. The pair got to know each other better in Götzis, Austria, in the spring, but they have not yet managed to arrange joint training during the competition season.

Alongside athletics, Virjonen is due to complete upper secondary school. She plans to sit her matriculation examinations and graduate next spring. Open university studies interest her, although she has not yet decided what she would like to study.

She also finds time for television. She has watched Downton Abbey several times, and her mother has introduced her to Gilmore Girls.