Markku Koski
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2008) |
| Olympic medal record | ||
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| Men's Snowboarding | ||
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2006 Turin | Men's Halfpipe |
|- ! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;background-color:#eeeeee;color:inherit;" | Men's Snowboarding
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| style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;color:inherit;" | || style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" | 2003 || style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" | Half-Pipe
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Markku Koski (born October 15, 1981) is a professional snowboarder from Sievi, Finland. He is well known within the snowboarding community for his consistent showing in half-pipe competitions and for his video parts with Standard Films. He is often cited as being one of the top 5 professional snowboarders in the world. He is notable within the landscape of professional snowboarders because he does not have an easily definable image within the sport.
Instead, his high-profile image within the sport comes simply from his skills on the board alone. He was the first snowboarder to land a Cab 1440 (taking off in the switch riding position and performing 4 rotations while in the air) in competition. It is also notable that it was performed during the same competition that Danny Kass landed the first back-to-back 1080s in competition. Koski usually travels for roughly half the year while filming and competing. His favorite spots to travel to include Mammoth Mountain, Snow Summit, and Louekallio. Some people are born to compete, and Markku Koski is definitely one of them. Known for his complete balls-to-the-wall style in the halfpipe, the Finnish snowboarder began entering contests only a year after strapping on a snowboard for the first time. It was 1992 and at the time there were few snowboarders at his local mountain near Sievi, Finland, but that didn’t seem to slow him down. He quickly progressed to pro status and spent eight years standing out in the European contest circuit before finally making his mark in the US. In snowboarding, many riders rely on an image to get their fame and glory, but this is not Markku’s style. He is about as normal as they come and even served his required time in the Finnish army without complaint, and why not? Life has been good for the high-flying Finn. “I think my friends don’t see me as a quiet guy. I actually talk a lot when I’m with my friends,” he says of his perceived personality. “When I’m with strangers I’m not really the one that has to be talking so I let other people do that. It’s not like I need to get my opinion out.”America was first introduced to Markku’s “less talk, more action” style in 2002 when he showed up in Stratton, VT for his first US Open of Snowboarding. Out of nowhere he proceeded to pull out a repertoire of tricks people had never seen done in a contest. While no one likes to admit it, contest riders are best known for playing it safe when the big bucks and fame are on the line and the US Open is definitely no exception. With nothing to lose at that event, Markku went for it and forever became known as this Finnish kid just showed up and spun a cab 1440 (taking off switch and performing 4 rotations while in the air) in the halfpipe, becoming not only the first to do it at a highly respected event like the US Open, but the first rider ever to do this trick in a contest.. Though the landing was a little sketchy, Markku’s place was forever solidified in snowboard history with a second place finish.Despite being in recovery from two shoulder injuries, in 2006 Markku once again stepped up into the spotlight, throwing down a medal winning run in Torino, Italy’s Olympic Halfpipe that earned him a bronze medal. And in snowboarding everyone knows it’s definitely no small feat to find one’s self sharing the podium with Shaun White and Danny Kass in an event as massive as the Olympic Games. His European compatriots probably were secretly cheering as he prevented another US sweep like 2002, but chances are Markku would never join in. That’s just not his style. “People probably think Olympic bronze would be the thing I’m most proud of, but it’s not. I’m even more proud of my first junior world title. But most of all I’m really stoked to get parts in Standard Films movies. I grew up watching their movies and wanted to be part of it some day.”As it turns out, there is more to Markku than just halfpipe skills, according to Stepchild snowboards founder Sean Johnson. “What some people don’t realize is that Markku is a jump and backcountry destroyer-he’ll kill whatever you put him in front of him.”Over the years Markku has proved this time and time again with standout parts in such Standard Films as “Lost in Transition.” In 2002 he was listed among Transworld Snowboarding’s 16 riders to watch. He’s also been featured on the cover of Onboard, has been interviewed across the globe in mags like Slammer and Snow Extreme, has had shots in Method magazine, TransWorld, Snowboarder, MBM, Pleasure, Playboard, Australian Snowboarder and Freerun. Last year he filmed with Defective Films.“I like to ride anything really, powder, park, pipe, rails. As long as you have a good crew and are having fun everything goes, but if I had to pick just one, it would be powder lines with natural hits on the way down,” he says.With nicknames that include Kaiten Sushi (after those sushi trains where you can pick out all kinds of different dishes) and The Samurai, it’s anyone’s guess what we’ll see next out of Markku. Whatever he pulls off though, you can be sure it’s something people will talk about for a long time to come. When not traveling the world, Markku still resides in Sievi, Finland and has been part of the Quiksilver snowboard team since 1999.