Pukki - Finnish athlete of year 2019

[hepphep 175]

Teemu was just awarded as Finnish Athlete of Year 2019. A trophy which includes athletes from all the sports.

He was actually participating the gala in person and had very visible Norwich City pin on his chest. More merch sales brewing here in Finland.. 😉

[Pockthorpe 635]

Cheers hepphep ! Thanks for that . Fully deserved in my opinion. Even though I have absolutely no idea who he was up against . 

[hepphep 175]

First runner up was Lukas Hradecky, keeper of Finnish national team and Bayer Leverkusen. Pukki had nearly double the votes compared to him. I think it was some sort of record votes that he got. Third was Iivo Niskanen, cross-country skier who had won the award twice in row. Others in top ten included guys like Valtteri Bottas (2nd in F1 this year), Lauri Markkanen (young Finnish NBA player who was selected in NBA young players all-star game ) and some icehockey players such as captain of Team Finland which won world championship in 2019.

[Alex Moss 2,167]

Firstly, congratulations to Teemu, and also to your country on your qualification for the European Championships! I’m guessing this event was pre-recorded, or is Teemu actually in Finland tonight?

[Alex Moss 2,167]

[hepphep 175]

2 minutes ago, Alex Moss said:

Firstly, congratulations to Teemu, and also to your country on your qualification for the European Championships! I’m guessing this event was pre-recorded, or is Teemu actually in Finland 

Thanks, qualification really has been such a huge thing for all of us football fans in here.

It was live award show, so he was actually let to fly to Finland to receive the award. But his walking looked all good, no limping 😉

He was actually just 3rd footballer ever to win that award. Ones before have been Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyypiä, so he is in good company.