Emma Terho
Emma Kristiina Terho (born 17 December 1981) is a Finnish retired ice hockey defenseman and the current Chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission. She is the general manager of Kiekko-Espoo in the Naisten Liiga. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano she became the youngest Winter Olympian to medal for Finland at the age of 16 years 54 days. Playing career. The Ohio State University. Laaksonen played with the Buckeyes women's ice hockey team while attending The Ohio State University (OSU) during 2000 to 2004. In the 2001–02 season she was the first women's ice  hockey player from Ohio State to earn All-American honors when she was named to the 2001–02 Jofa/American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Second Team All-American and was a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. On 11 October 2008, Laaksonen Terho became the first women's hockey player to have her Buckeye number retired. The retirement ceremony occurred prior to an Ohio State vs. Purdue University football game at Ohio Stadium, where Laaksonen Terho was recognized on the field at the 50-yard line. She was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame on 25  September 2009. Espoo Blues, 2004–2007. In Finland she played with the Espoo Blues, where she won the Finnish Championship eight times (1999, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2015). With Espoo Blues she has finished third three times (1997, 1998 and 2006). SKIF Nizhny Novgorod. In the 2007–08 season Terho played in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia with SKIF of the Russian Women's Hockey League (RWHL). Three other Finnish players, forwards Kati Kovalainen, Karoliina Rantamäki, and Nora Tallus, also played for SKIF in that season. The team won the 2008 Russian Women's Hockey League Championship. Espoo, 2008–2017. Terho returned  to the Espoo Blues after the 2007-08 season in Russia. The 2008-09 season was very successful, both personally and for the team. Terho set a career high for assists with 32 and ended the regular season with an impressive 34 points in just 19 games. International play. Laaksonen is a five-time Olympian, serving as co-captain or captain in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 as well as competing in seven world championships, serving as captain in 2008 and 2009. She played on the women's ice hockey team for Finland at the 1998 Winter Olympics, winning a  bronze medal. She was the youngest woman on the team (16 years, 54 days). Sports administration. Early in her career Terho became involved in the administrative aspect of sport, as a member of the Student Athlete Board during her junior and senior years at The Ohio State University (2002–2004). In 2006, after graduating and returning to Finland to play in the Naisten SM-sarja, Terho became a member of the Finnish Olympic Committee. In 2011 as part of the IIHF Ambassador and Mentor Program (AMP) she became an Athlete Ambassador to Kazakhstan with the directive to use her experience at  Olympic Games, World Championships, and other high level women's hockey programs to help build the women's game in her designated country. As her playing career wound down, Terho ramped up her involvement in Finnish sports administration and she has become an influential and important player in that sphere. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Terho was elected for an eight-year term as a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, with the largest share of votes of all candidates put forward. The election also made her an International Olympic Committee Member. On 6 August 2021, at the 2020 Summer  Olympics in Tokyo, Terho was elected as the new Chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission. She replaced outgoing Chair Kirsty Coventry, who had served as Chair since 2018 and had remained in role for an additional year beyond her eight-year term to help maintain the IOC Athletes’ Commission's work during the COVID-19 pandemic, following the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games. Personal life. Emma Terho was born in Washington, D.C.. Terho holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from The Ohio State University (2004) and a Masters of Science in Economics from the Helsinki School of Economics  at Aalto University (2013). She began her career in finance while still an active hockey player, serving as a fixed income trader for Pohjola Bank from 2006 to 2013. Terho has served as a product manager for fixed income products at OP-Pohjola Financial Group since 2014. Her husband, Teemu Terho, also works in banking. They have two children, a son, born in 2012, and a daughter, born in 2014. Career statistics. International. Sources: Awards and honours. Sources: Records. NCAA. "Records valid through 2020–21 NCAA season." Season Single-game WCHA. "Records stand through the 2019–20 WCHA season." Career Season Single -game Ohio State Buckeyes. "Records valid through 2019–20 Ohio State Buckeyes season." Career Season Single-game