Home > Hannes Kolehmainen

Kolehmainen, from a sportive family from Kuopio (his brothers Willy and Tatu were also strong long distance runners), was one of the stars of the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, winning three gold medals. His most memorable was the one in the 5000 m. In that event, he ran a heroic duel with Frenchman Jean Bouin . After leading the field together for most of the race, Bouin was only defeated by Kolehmainen in the final metres - in World Record time. In addition, Kolehmainen won the 10000 m and the now discontinued cross country event. With the Finnish team, he also obtained a silver place in the cross country team event.

At the time, Finland was still a part of Russia, and although there was a separate Finnish team at the Olympics, the Russian flag was raised for Kolehmainen's victories, making him say that he "almost wished he hadn't won".

Kolehmainen's sportive career was interrupted by the First World War, but he remained an athlete to be reckoned with, although his specialty had now shifted to the longer distances, especially the marathon. At the first post-war Olympics in AntwerpGuildhouses in the Grote Markt Antwerp ( Dutch: Antwerpen French: Anvers is a city and a municipality in the province of Antwerp (and its capital), in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. On January 1st, 2004 Antwerp had a total population of 45, he won the gold medal in this event. He would also enter the Olympic marathon in 1924, but Kolehmainen did not complete that race.

By then, Kolehmainen had found a worthy successor in Paavo NurmiPaavo Nurmi ( June 13, 1897 October 2, 1973) was a Finnish runner. Born in Turku, Nurmi was one of the " Flying Finns", together with among others Hannes Kolehmainen and Ville Ritola. During the 1920s, Nurmi was the best middle and long distance runner in. Together with Nurmi, he lit the Olympic FlameCincinnati, Ohio, U. on the way to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Olympic Flame or Olympic Fire is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Gree at the 1952 Summer OlympicsThe Games of the XV Olympiad were held in 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. Helsinki had been elected as the host city over rival bids from Amsterdam and five American cities. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics but they were canceled due to in HelsinkiHelsingin kaupunki Helsingfors stad CityHelsinki ( 1550) Administrative Province Southern Finland Historical Province Uusimaa Area Total Land Water Ranked 349th686 km²186 km²500 km² Population Total (2003-12-31) Density Ranked 1st559,3302,923/km² (1st) Ti. He died in that same city, fourteen years later.