Paavo Nurmi

From WikiRun

Paavo Johannes Nurmi (1897 – 1973) was a Finnish runner, who won 9 gold and 3 silver medals in the Olympics. Born in Turku, he was known as one of the "Flying Finns"; a term given to him, Hannes Kolehmainen, Ville Ritola and others for their distinction in running. During the 1920s, Nurmi was the best middle and long distance runner in the world, setting world records at distances between 1500 m and 20 km.

Nurmi competed at the Olympic Games from 1920 to 1928. In 1932, Nurmi was unable to compete at the Olympics, as he had received money for his running and was thus considered a professional.

Running career

Olympic career

Nurmi debuted at the 1920 Summer Olympics by competing in four events. He won three gold medals: the 10,000 m, the cross country event and the cross country team event, and finished second in the 5000 m.

In 1924, he won five gold medals in five events, including the 1500 m, 5000 m (with only 26 minutes between the final races; he broke the world record for both of them), the 3000 m team race, and again both cross country events. It was the last time these cross country events were held, as the great heat caused more than half of the competitors to abandon the race, and many more had to be taken to hospital. Finnish officials, fearing for his health, refused to enter Nurmi in the 10,000 m event. Thus, he was unable to defend his title. An angry Nurmi protested after returning to Finland by setting a 10,000 m world record that would last for almost 13 years.

Nurmi ended his Olympic career at the 1928 Summer Olympics, winning the 10,000 m and two silver medals (5000 m and 3000 m steeplechase).

Nurmi has won the most Olympic medals in Track & Field, 12 total. He ties Larissa Latynina, Mark Spitz, and Carl Lewis^[1] with nine Olympic gold medals, second only to Michael Phelps with fourteen.^[2] Due to this fact, he is often considered the greatest Track & Field athlete of all time.

Amateurism debate

Nurmi continued to run after the Olympics in Amsterdam with every intent to compete in the 10,000 m and marathon events at the 1932 Summer Olympics, but he was adjudicated to be a professional and barred from running in Los Angeles. Swedish officials, especially Sigfrid Edström, the president of the IAAF and vice-president of the IOC were the primary advocates for the ban. Edström claimed that Nurmi had received too much money for his travel expenses to a meet in Germany. This was seen as jealousy by many in Finland and in part led to Finland refusing to participate in the traditional Finland-Sweden international athletics event Suomi-Ruotsi-maaottelu or Finnkampen until 1939.

However, Nurmi did travel to Los Angeles and kept training at the Olympic Village. Despite pleas from all the entrants of the marathon, Nurmi was not allowed to compete at the Games. Although he had suffered from injuries, he claimed he would have won the marathon by five minutes after the event was over. He had set his heart on ending his career with a marathon gold medal, as his fellow countryman Hannes Kolehmainen had done shortly after the First World War.

The Finnish Athletic Federation never accepted Nurmi's sentence, and he continued to race in the home country until 1934, as a "national amateur". Paavo Nurmi's last race was a victory in 10000 m on September 16th, 1934, at Viipuri.

Other

In the one hour track run, Paavo Nurmi ran 19,210m in 1928.^[3]

Post running career

Nurmi concentrated on a new one, as a businessman and building contractor. Since the 1920's he had been building up his capital, investing wisely in stocks. Paavo Nurmi made a considerable fortune, mainly in housing industry. In Helsinki there are 40 town houses built by his company. In the 1930's and 1940's Nurmi sometimes took leave from his business commitments to train Finnish runners.

A Finnish national hero, Paavo Nurmi was the lighter of the Olympic Flame at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. In 1968, Nurmi set up a research foundation for coronary disease and public health and provided it with two multi-storey buildings and a substantial amount of money. In retirement he ran a haberdashery store in Helsinki. Nurmi died in 1973 in Helsinki and was given a state funeral.

Two marathons are named in his honor: the Paavo Nurmi Marathon has been held in Northern Wisconsin, USA since 1969. An event with the same name has also been held in Turku, Nurmi's home town, since 1991. The Paavo Nurmi Games are an invitational track meet held in Turku since 1957 which is part of a four meet circuit.^[4]

External links

• Paavo Nurmi 100 years

References

1. ↑ http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080812/ts_nm/olympics_dc_136
2. ↑ Wallechinsky, David; Jaime Loucky (2008). The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. Aurum Press, page 1178. ISBN 978-1-84513-330-6. 
3. ↑ http://www.iaaf.org/aboutiaaf/news/newsid=12422.html Retrieved 2008-09-01.
4. ↑ http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=44449.html Retrieved 2008-09-01.