Santeri Vainionpää will be awarded as Riihimäki's Athlete of the Year 2024

The City of Riihimäki has decided which residents of Riihimäki will be awarded as Athletes, Supporters and Good Citizens of the Year in 2024. The Technical Committee decided on the selections at its meeting on Tuesday, March 26, 2025.

The Athlete of the Year award goes to Santeri Vainionpää of Riihimäen Cocks. He played 2024 matches in the league season that ended in 23, scoring 81 goals. At the end of the season, he was chosen as the Finnish Championship's Breakthrough Player of the Year. Santeri was also part of the Finnish national team in the European Championship qualifiers.

Riihimäki awards the athlete of the year with one thousand euros.

The Young Athlete of the Year is Topi Niemi

The Young Athlete of the Year award goes to track and field athlete Topi Niemi. He was part of the 17x4m hurdles team that won the Finnish Championship in the U100 series and the 17x4m team that won the Finnish Championship silver medal in the U100 series. On a personal level, he won the Finnish Championship silver medal in the M16 series in the 400m hurdles. The highlight of Topi's season was representing Sweden in the U18 series in the 400m hurdles, where he finished fourth in his own record time.

Backgrounder of the Year is Aaro Linnalaakso

The 2024 Background Activist of the Year award goes to Aaro Linnalaakso of the Riihimäki Basketball Club. As the club's chairman, Linnalaakso has done excellent work for basketball in Riihimäki. Although this is a relatively new club, its operations have become established and grown dramatically, while still developing operations on children's terms.

Riihimäki awards the young athlete of the year and background worker of the year with 500 euros.

The Competent Local of the Year is Riihimäki Orienteers

The Honorable Mention of the Municipality goes to Riihimäen Suunnistajat, who have been organizing low-threshold orienteering events (Tuesday orienteering events) for years. In addition, the club has been very active in producing orienteering maps and implementing fixed controls. The orienteering club has also been active in the city's schools and has been involved in implementing sports events open to everyone, and has also participated in other environmental work in cooperation with the city.

The city organizes an award ceremony during the spring.