Pertti Johannes Karppinen (born 17 February 1953) is a retired Finnish rower noted for his three consecutive Olympic gold medals in single sculls in 1976, 1980 and 1984.

[1] Karppinen and great German sculler Peter-Michael Kolbe had one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the sport.

Karppinen missed making the finals, but won the consolation race for seventh place.

Kolbe again won a silver medal being beaten by prodigy Thomas Lange.

[1] Karppinen and Russia's Vyacheslav Ivanov are the only men to win gold medals in the single scull at three straight Olympics.