World refugees are getting some support from one Norwegian footballer’s unorthodox World Cup travel plan.

THIS year's FIFA World Cup will be the first held in Africa, and former footballer Bjørn Heidenstrøm is doing his best to make his trip to South Africa a memorable one. The Norwegian is cycling and hitchhiking to the tournament from Oslo in an effort to raise awareness of refugee issues, using the generosity of what he enthusiastically refers to as “the football family” to help smooth his path.

The final week in the Vancouver Olympics brought some consolation with four more medals for Finland, but no gold.

Finland's cross-country went downhill fast before the relays. But the teams found their fighting spirit at the right time, and the men finished in fifth place – a great result considering the streak of disappointments in the earlier races. In the women’s competition, Finnish medal hopes seemed to have faded out after Pirjo Muranen came in 12th after the first leg. But the rest of the team started a gradual climb towards the top, and finally anchor Aino-Kaisa Saarinen spurted Finland to a bronze medal, the first women’s Olympic relay medal in 22 years.

A new film about a Finnish rugby club lifts the lid on one of the country's minority sports.

Freetime Machos is a forthcoming film about “the most northern and third lousiest rugby team in the world”. Oulu Rugby club's 2007 season was recorded for posterity by director Mika Ronkai-
nen, and the resulting picture is due for release next month. The club’s English coach Roger Holden welcomed the lengthy gap between filming and release.

“The perception was that we're just an ordinary rugby club and nobody would be interested in us,” says Holden. “It was filmed in 2007, and it all feels like ...

Finland opened their medal account, but the overall national performance so far has been underwhelming.

Finland finally got their first medal on Wednesday 17 February, and it took an easy-going snowboarder to break the deadlock. Peetu Piiroi-
nen, the 22-year-old, 165cm trick whiz managed to land a near-perfect run in the second round of the men’s halfpipe final and took home the silver medal, with only Shaun White, the undisputed sovereign of the sport, beating him.

Unfortunately, the delightful result has not borne fruit in other events, and the Finnish performance threatens to end up being one of the worst in the country’s Winter Olympic history. Saturday was probably the worst day: In cross-country skiing,...

The Olympics opened with a tragic accident, while the Finnish team have had a disappointing start to their medal chase.

In Friday’s training for the luge men’s singles event, 21-year-old Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili lost control of his luge in the final turn of the track and was thrown off the course. He crashed into the support beams next to the track and was fatally injured, sending shockwaves across the Olympic family.

Finnish football's precarious finances have been a cause for concern, but next week one fan group will head to Brussels to lobby MEPs on the matter.

Tampere United fans will be represented next week at a reception at the European parliament. The reception, organised by supporter's advocacy group Supporter's Direct, is intended to “celebrate football, and in particular the important role of supporters in the ownership and governance of clubs.”

Mika Myllylä’s admission that he used EPO during his career adds fuel to the allegations that systematic doping went on in the Finnish ski team in the 1990s.

After winning six Olympic and nine World Championship medals, Mika Myllylä could be considered one of the biggest names in Finnish cross-country skiing. His career peaked in 1999, when he won three gold and one silver medal at the Ramsau World Championships, but within two years he had been disqualified, along with five other Finnish skiers, from the 2001 Lahti World Championships for using a banned plasma expander, Hemohes. The substance can be used to hide the use of banned blood hormone, erythropoietin (EPO).

The XXI Winter Olympics commence this Friday in Vancouver, with more than 80 nations taking part.

This year, there are newcomers both in terms of disciplines and participating countries. Ski-cross will debut as a new event while the Cayman Islands, Colombia, Ghana, Pakistan and Peru will send their first competitors to the Winter Olympics. The overall medal standings are likely to be dominated by more traditional winter sports countries, such as Germany, Russia, Norway, United States and the hosts Canada. One thing is sure: Canadian fans will embrace their first Olympic Champion in Vancouver with much adoration. Montreal 1976 and Calgary 1988 produced no gold medals for the home team, so the athlete who breaks the curse will definitely become a national hero.

Ice hockey aficionados beware: another major distraction available!

With the Vancouver Olympic Games imminent, hockey fans around the globe are again tantalised before TV screens. Endless debates ensue and bets are placed on statistical details, such as who scored how many goals for which team or who hails from whose hometown.

A great source of smart stats to feed that addiction is now available at QuantHockey.com, a website that has been up and running since September 2008. A brainchild of Finnish...

For a large part of sport enthusiasts, the definitive highlight of the upcoming Vancouver Olympics is the men’s ice hockey. And the stage is truly set for a thriller: the absolute best players on the planet gather in Canada, hockey’s homeland, and go head-to-head in a frantic two-week chase for the coveted Olympic gold. Once again, Finland are not among the favourites, but with three medals from the last four games, we can’t be counted out either.