Ville Vesterinen and Ismo Hämäläinen are the strongest candidates for the leadership of Kihu, the institute of elite sports. The chairman of Kihu’s board, Tapio Korjus, is silent about the four leading candidates, who are all men.
in Jyväskylä The Institute of Top Sports Kihu, located in Kihu, will get a new director on Monday.
Having led the institute since 2018 Aki Salon a termination agreement was made with some time ago. Salo’s successor will be named CEO, which strongly suggests financial expertise.
“It is true. In addition, the applicant must have strong personnel management skills. There are many talented and skilled experts in Kihu. The people decide, not just the walls of Kihu”, chairman of the board of the institute Tapio Korjus says.
Made in 2021 personnel surveys reveal that Kihu’s employees had problems coping. The workload had increased and not all employees necessarily knew what was required of them.
The vice-chairman of Kihu’s board is the head of the elite sports unit of the Finnish Olympic Committee Matti Heikkinen.
According to information from Helsingin Sanomat, Kihu’s CEO will be chosen from among the top four candidates. All candidates are men.
The strongest names in the running are, among others, Kihun vt. manager Ville Vesterinen and Executive Director of the Ski Federation Ismo Hämäläinen. Korjus does not want to comment on the names of the candidates.
According to HS’s information, Vesterinen, who knows Kihu’s customs and especially the people, is the strongest favorite of the names.
Hämäläinen’s strengths are his understanding of sports biology and his passion for the practical coaching of elite sports. He joined the Ski Association from the position of director of the training center of Vierumäki sports college in 2019.
“Kihu’s board will decide on the matter on Monday around 2 p.m., after which it will be announced in a press release,” says Korjus.
Up until now, Kihu’s director has been required to have a doctoral degree. Now the application has also been opened for those who have completed a master’s degree.
Kärkinelikko was initially selected from 16 applicants. Some of them withdrew their papers after hearing that they should no longer continue the application process, even though the requirements were met.
“The application criteria were still really tough. It has to be a top performance to cross the bar,” says Korjus.
Kihu’s board chairman Tapio Korjus.
New the CEO’s first job is to get Kihu’s finances in order. The institute’s funding has stopped when the Finnish Olympic Committee stopped the competence program cooperation with Kihu.
The value of the collaboration was 160,000 euros, which is a big dent in Kihu’s budget.
“It’s actually the only straight cut. Secondly, Kihu’s state aid has remained the same for eight years. It causes problems for the economy,” says Korjus.
The state supports Kihu with 1.7 million euros per year. It is 65–70 percent of Kihu’s budget.
“Kihu has to start his own fundraising”, Korjus points out.
Kihu does its own fundraising with commissioned studies and surveys. The Olympic Committee also buys and continues to acquire individual services from Kihu.
Kihu’s central mission is to promote applied research in Finnish competitive and elite sports and to improve its utilization in practical coaching. Kihu has 49 employees.
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