Hanna-Maari is from a small Finnish coastal town called Kokkola. Hanna-Maari started in track and continued to hurdling, until she finally decided to put her full effort in 60m, 100m and 200m dashes. Her path to a full-time athlete has been unique, since she sprung a little later than many of her competitors. The choice between studies and sport are rarely as easily combined in Finland as they are in the NCAA in USA, but Hanna-Maari managed to do it. As she was graduating with a Double Master's Degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology in 2013 she competed in her first ever World University Games, where she finished 4th in the 100m dash and 2nd in the 200m dash. The same year she also competed in her first ever IAAF World Championships that were held in Moscow, Russia. She qualified for both 100m and 200m, and reached the semi-finals in the latter. Just as "out of ordinary" as her decision to focus on studies and sport, her choice has always been to focus on both 100m and 200m at the same time, as she sees that they both compliment each other. In 2014, Hanna-Maari ran her career best results at the European Championships in Zürich, Switzerland and finished 7th in the 200m final. Since those championships, she has been a member of the European Athletics Association's Athlete's Commission. She has also been the athlete representative in her National Federation and a mentor to youth athletes in her home club in Jyväskylä, Finland. Hanna-Maari joined the Pure Athletics team during the Spring of 2016 and she is aiming to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.