A statue of Olympic cross-country ski champion Eero Mäntyranta stands in the centre of Pello. The statue called “Kaarteetkin täysillä” is designed and realized by professor Ensio Seppänen. Eero Mäntyranta won gold both at the Squaw Valley (1960) and the Innsbruck (1964) Winter Olympics. Mäntyranta also won a bronze and silver medal at the Grenoble (1968) Winter Olympics. In addition to his skiing career, Mäntyranta was a reindeer herder and an active philanthropist.
