A place of sporting pilgrimage

The Sports Museum of Finland, the only museum of its kind in the country, is home to permanent and temporary exhibitions on the history and culture of sport and physical exercise in Finland. It features special sections devoted to the cancelled 1940 Olympic Games and to Helsinki 1952, complete with an extensive collection of photographs and exhibits. The museum’s library, archive and educational materials on Helsinki 1952 are frequently accessed by academics, researchers and members of the general public.

Previous exhibitions include “Faces of the Olympic City 1952”, featuring photographs taken in the Finnish capital during the Olympic Games; “Children’s Weeks/Time Travel to the Olympic Games”, which showcased Olympic Games past and present for younger visitors and allowed them to try various Olympic sports; and “The Helsinki Olympic Stadium 1938–2008”, which told the story of the venue’s rich history. During the Tokyo 2020 Games, the museum organised Olympic-themed guided tours and lectures on artefacts from Helsinki 1952. A similar initiative was organised again during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The museum's extensive collections include around 2,000 posters, 30,000 historical artefacts – the oldest being a ski dating back to the 5^th century BC – and 200,000 photographs taken between the late 19^th century and the current day. Visitors can also learn about Finland’s great sporting heroes, including legendary runners Paavo Nurmi and Hannes Kolehmainen, ski jumping great Matti Nykänen, ice hockey stars Jari Kurri and Teemu Selänne, footballers Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyypiä, and Formula 1 champion Mika Häkkinen.

Established in 1943, the museum is located in the western wing of the Olympic Stadium, and served as a press centre at the 1952 Olympic Games. The museum has been renovated and extended several times, most recently in 2020, as part of broader renovation work at the Olympic Stadium.