World Championship gold medallist Karoliina Lundahl has been entered into the Finnish Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame ©IWF

World Championship gold medallist Karoliina Lundahl has been entered into the Finnish Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.

The 49-year-old won the women's under-75 kilograms title on home soil in Lahti in 1998.

She became the first Finnish female world champion and is also her country's first female European champion.

Lundahl first competed at athletics and competed in the shot put at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

The Hall of Fame recognises the best Finnish weightlifters ©Getty Images
The Hall of Fame recognises the best Finnish weightlifters ©Getty Images

Other weightlifters in the Hall of Fame include Juhani Vellamo, the first Finnish World Championship medallist, and Eino Mäkinen, the first Finnish European champion.

Jaakko Kailajärvi, the first Finnish world record holder, and Kaarlo Kangasniemi, the first Finnish Olympic champion, are other athletes to have been recognised. 

Lundahl has moved into sports politics following the end of her professional career.

She currently serves as a member of the International Weightlifting Federation's (IWF) Executive Board.

The Finn was voted onto the Board Lundahl during the IWF Congress in Bangkok in May 2017.

She became the second woman to take such a role.