Veli-Matti "Aku" Partanen (born 28 October 1991, in Lappeenranta) is a Finnish racewalker who competes mostly at the 50 kilometres race walk. Partanen's club is Lappeenrannan Urheilumiehet.

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Aku Partanen
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Personal information
Full nameVeli-Matti Partanen
Born (1991-10-28) 28 October 1991 (age 32)
Lappeenranta, Finland
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Weight55 kg (121 lb)[1]
Sport
Country Finland
SportAthletics
Event50km Race Walk
Achievements and titles
Personal best
  • 20 km: 1:18:22 (2023)
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Partanen competed at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, where he was 41st at 50 kilometres.[2] At the 2014 European Championships, in Zürich, Partanen was 18th. His time was 3:52:58. In 2018, he competed in the men's 50 kilometres walk at the 2018 European Athletics Championships held in Berlin, Germany.[3] He did not finish his race.[3] In 2019, he competed in the men's 50 kilometres walk at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar.[4] He did not finish his race.[4]

Partanen's original name was Veli-Matti, but he changed his name to Aku because everyone called him Aku.[citation needed]

In 2021, he represented Finland at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he finished 9th in the men's 50 kilometres walk and set a season best of 3:52:39.[5]

Records

References

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