| Markku Uusipaavalniemi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1966-11-23)23 November 1966 (age 59) Karkkila, Finland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Curling club | CC Dominant Eye,Helsinki | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skip | Markku Uusipaavalniemi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Third | Jari Laukkanen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Second | Joni Ikonen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lead | Jari Turto | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Curling career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member Association |  Finland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship appearances | 11 (1992,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2005,2006,2007) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Mixed Doubles Championship appearances | 1 (2014) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Championship appearances | 14 (1985,1986,1991,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2004,2005,2006,2011) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic appearances | 2 (2002,2006) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Markku Uusipaavalniemi (born 23 November 1966) is aFinnishcurler and former politician.
Uusipaavalniemi was the skip of Team Finland for the first time in the mid-1990s. Most (but not all) of Finland's curling medals have been achieved with Uusipaavalniemi as skip. Uusipaavalniemi's team won theEuropean Championships in 2000. He is also a two-timeWorld Curling Championships bronze medalist (1998 and 2000) and two-time European Curling Championships bronze medalist (1999 and 2001).
Uusipaavalniemi's Finland team disappointingly finished fifth at the2002 Olympic Games.
In 2004, he and his somewhat altered Finland line-up pulled off the daunting task of securing qualification for the2005 Ford World Men's Curling Championships from the 'B' competition at the European championships, where they languished following the country's relegation the previous season. To do this, they had to win the competition outright, and then overcomeRussia in an additional play-off match.
At the 2005 World Championship, Uusipaavalniemi's team finished the round-robin tied for first place with five other teams on an 8–3 record. In the tie-breakers however, they were knocked out of contention byCanada'sRandy Ferbey. Also in 2005, Uusipaavalniemi won the first everEuropean Mixed Curling Championship with teammatesKirsi Nykänen,Teemu Salo andTiina Kautonen inAndorra.
Uusipaavalniemi's Finland team finished the round-robin at the2006 Olympic tournament in first place, with a 7–2 record. They beatGreat Britain 4–3 in the semi-final, with the last stone of the final end — thrown by Uusipaavalniemi — giving the Finns the deciding point. Finland lost the final to Canada 10-4 taking the silver medal.
Two weeks before the start of the2006 World Men's Curling Championship inLowell, Massachusetts, Uusipaavalniemi suffered a wrist injury that forced him to miss the team's first three games of the competition. He recovered enough to start playing in the fourth game, where he skipped and threw second rocks. He played out the rest of the competition throwing third rocks, but Finland did not make the playoff round, finishing tied for fifth with a 6–5 record.
Uusipaavalniemi returned to the2007 Ford World Men's Curling Championship but his team got off to a rough start, losing their first two games and stringing together back-to-back wins only twice. Finland qualified for a tiebreaker with a 6–5 record, but lost toGermany 8-5 and finished sixth. Markku admitted that his recent campaign for (and eventual election to) Finnish parliament had forced him to cut back on curling practice time, perhaps contributing to the team's early struggles.
After the 2007 World Championships Uusipaavalniemi didn't play at a competitive level until he returned to curling in the2009–10 season with a new team. The new team won the Finnish Championship in the2010–11 curling season and represented Finland in2011 European Curling Championships. The appearance in the 2011 Europeans was a disappointment when Finland finished 7th in the B-group.
On 20 September 2006 Uusipaavalniemi announced his candidacy forFinnish parliament in the2007 election for theCentre Party.[1]. Uusipaavalniemi was elected along with three other members of his party from theUusimaa constituency.He voted against the further privatization of government owned companies as well as against the Lisbon treaty, both of which were supported by the party.
On 11 November 2010 Uusipaavalniemi defected from the Centre Party and joined the ranks of theTrue Finns Party.[1] He was not reelected in the 2011 election.
Uusipaavalniemi lives inHelsinki. He is divorced and has three children. His older brotherJussi taught him how to curl.
