Sipilia, Tapio

In 1975, he became the silver medalist of the Nordic Championship among juniors in two weight categories at once: up to 68 and up to 74 kilograms, and in 1976 he became a bronze medalist in the adult championship, and became a champion among juniors. In 1976 and 1978, at the European Championships in the age category, Espoir became the fourth. In 1976, he first became the champion of Finland. In 1978, he won the Nordic Championship among juniors, and among adults he was a silver medalist. In 1979, he won the Nordic Championship, and in 1980 he was second (welterweight). At the 1980 European Championships he won a bronze medal.

He drove his weight throughout his career and performed in lightweight at major international competitions (he was welterweight at normal weight), including because Youko Salomäki occupied the welterweight niche in the Finnish national team.

At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, he fought in lightweight (up to 68 kilograms). The tournament regulations were subject to penalty points; no penalty points were awarded for a clear victory; 0.5 penalty points were awarded for a victory with a clear advantage; 1 point for a victory in points; 3.5 points for a defeat with a clear advantage for the opponent; and 4 points for a clear defeat. As before, the wrestler who scored 6 penalty points dropped out of the tournament. The title was disputed by 15 wrestlers.

Tapio Sipilia purely lost the first two meetings and dropped out of the tournament. In fairness, it should be noted that the lot brought him in these meetings with two obvious favorites.

In 1981, he won the Nordic Championship, became the silver medalist of the World Championship and the bronze European Championship. In 1982, he remained fifth at the World Cup. In 1983 he won the title of world champion, at the Nordic Championship was the second and for the third time became the bronze medalist of the European Championship. In 1984, he won the Nordic Championship.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he fought lightweight (up to 68 kilograms). The tournament regulations remained the same, with the accrual of penalty points. The tournament participants, numbering 14 people in the category, were divided into two groups. Points were awarded for winning fights, from 4 points for a clear victory and 0 points for a clear defeat. When three wrestlers with the highest scores were determined in each group (the struggle took place according to the system with elimination after two defeats ), they played among themselves the places in the group. Then the winners of the groups met in the battle for the first or second places, who took second place - for the third-fourth places, took third place - for the fifth-sixth places.

Tapio Sipilia, being the reigning world champion, was a clear favorite of the competition, especially in the absence of strong fighters from the socialist camp . The Finnish wrestler won without any problems in the group, but unexpectedly in the first fight he was put on the shoulder blades by the Yugoslav Vlado Lisiak , who had this only success in his international career.

In 1985 he became the silver medalist of the World Super Championship tournament . In 1986 he became the silver medalist of the Nordic Championship, was the sixth at the European Championships and became the silver medalist of the World Championships. In 1987 he was again the silver medalist of the Nordic Championship and for the fourth time became the bronze medalist of the European Championship. In 1988, he was fourth at the European Championships.

At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, he fought in the category of up to 62 kilograms ( lightweight ). The tournament participants, numbering 31 people in the category, were divided into two groups. Points were awarded for winning fights, from 4 points for a clear victory and 0 points for a clear defeat. In each group, four wrestlers with the highest scores were determined (the fight was held according to the system with elimination after two defeats ), they played the first to eighth places among themselves. The winners of the groups met in the battle for the first or second places, who took second place - for the third and fourth places and so on.

Tapio Sipilya reached the finals in the group, where he lost to Korean Kim Sung-moon . In a meeting for third place he won, and became the bronze medalist of the Olympic Games.

After the games he left a big sport. Later he became a coach at the Muhoksen Voitto club and functionary of the Finnish sportsmen-workers' federation (1988-1992), was a deputy of the municipality in Muhos and worked in the technical council of the municipality (1992-1996). The father of two sons. ^[3] / Since 2007, the Muhoksen Voitto wrestling club has been reviving ^[4] . He also owns a restaurant in Mujos . ^[five]

• Full list of performances (fin.)
• Tapio Sipilia - Olympic statistics at Sports-Reference.com
• Tapio Sipilia - profile on International Wrestling Database