Former European Marathon Champion Janne Holmen (FIN) retires from competitive career

June 18, 2009

The 2002 European Marathon Champion and Finnish marathon record holder Janne Holmen announced earlier this week that he will quit his competitive running career.

The biggest achievement of Janne Holmen was without doubt the performance in the 2002 European Championships in Munich/GER where he won the Gold medal with a time of 2:12:04h. Four years later in the European Championships in Gothenburg he placed 7th with 2:13:10h. In the IAAF World Championships 2007 Holmen became 9th in 2:19:36h. He also competed in two Olympic Games (2004: 22nd place and 2008: 19th place). Holmen set the current Finnish marathon record of 2:10:46 in the Rotterdam marathon 2008.

The 31-year old doctor of philosophy and father of two children stated that his work and family responsibilities and aims make it almost impossible to continue a professional running training and lifestyle.