Paavo Nurmi
Paavo Nurmi (1920 in Antwerp)
Paavo Johannes Nurmi [ pɑ ː vɔ nurmi ] ( born June 13, 1897 in Turku, † October 2, 1973 in Helsinki) was a Finnish athlete. He was the son of Johan Fredrik Nurmi ( carpenter by trade ) and Matilda Vilhelmina Laine. He is considered one of the greatest athletes ever. Between 1920 and 1928 he won nine gold medals at the Olympic Games. Paavo Nurmi ran until 1931, a total of 24 world records from 1500 meters to the hours of operation ( 19,210 m).
Life
Hailing from a humble background Nurmi was born as the second child of the small farmers and later carpenter Johan Frederik Nurmi and his wife Matilda Vilhelmina 1897 in Turku. Even as a child he had to help support his family by he did heavy work such as chopping wood or water supplies because his father had died in 1910 at the age of 49 years. But tendered his meager pay well for a pair of real running shoes. When he ran the 1500 meters in five minutes with just eleven years, one recognized his talent. Later he joined not least because of the success of Hannes Kolehmainen at the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912 the club Turun Urheiluliitto with and was trained by Lauri Pihkala. Nurmi was up to its end of life belong to this club.
At the 1920 Summer Olympics Nurmi managed the big breakthrough: he won gold on the 10 000 meters, trail running and the team title in cross-country running along with Heikki Liimatainen and Teodor Koskenniemi. Only the 5000 -meter run, he had to admit defeat to the Frenchman Joseph Guillemot.
On 19 June 1924, he practiced in Helsinki for the Olympic Games in Paris and broke two world records in one hour, namely in the 1500 -meter run in 3:52,6 minutes and in the 5000 -meter run in 14:28,2 minutes. On both routes, he became Olympic champion in Paris a little later. Nurmi was annoyed later only that he was not admitted by the Finnish officials to start at the 10 000- meter race. This he wanted the extra hardships after the cross-country race, which became known as the Battle of heat Colombes in the story, not be expected. When running over a distance of 10.65 kilometers ruled temperatures up to 36 ° C in the shade and out of the 38 starters reached only 15 target. The Finnish Association contented himself with Ville Ritola after all, the runner-up of the site run - Ritola had a backlog of nearly one and a half minutes - to set up. Ritola should decide in 30:23,2 minutes for the 10,000 meters at last. Ever were Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola and with them many other top Finnish athletes as the phalanx in long-distance running in the 1920s and so created the myth of the "Flying Finns ".
Nurmi also be presented at the Games in Amsterdam in 1928 the 31 -year-old again strong and won the 10,000 m gold medal. In the 5000 -meter run, he had to settle for the silver medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, he came up with an inferior hurdling technique behind his world record running compatriot Toivo Loukola after all, also to second place behind Ville Ritola.
In 1932 he was banned for life before the Olympic Games in Los Angeles because of the violation of amateur status. He was accused that he had received too much money for travel expenses to a competition in Germany. Until recently he was hoping for a cancellation of the judgment and traveled with a way past Viipuri on June 26, 1932 Time of 2:22 40.2 km in the back even with the Finnish team in the U.S. to the gold in his career to crown marathon. Start he was not allowed yet.
Nurmi sank after this and other personal low points in bitterness. He saw himself as the victim of a conspiracy Swedish as a Stockholm newspaper reported offense at him. His 1932 Sylvi Laaksonen contracted marriage, from a child, Matti Nurmi, arose, which was part of the 1950s, in the medium-range to advanced Finnish peak was in 1935 divorced. In 1952 he appeared mollified when he was allowed to carry the Olympic torch into the stadium of Helsinki, which was not necessarily viewed in the IOC officials, Nurmi was but at least a locked for life by the IOC athletes.
Some years he was still passed around as a celebrity, but his retirement was marked by depression, by which he himself valued his services less. Nurmi almost went blind, suffered several heart attacks and was paralyzed on one side. When he died in 1973, wrote of Finland Urho Kaleva Kekkonen president - himself a former athlete - an obituary, which ended with the sentence: " He was not a happy man! ". This is confirmed by a quote from him: " My balance is sober and honest. I have not done anything in my life," reflecting the ambivalent attitude of athletes and the audience: Reaching the summit or never reach the top and realize that nothing comes afterwards. On October 11, 1973 Nurmi was given a state funeral. From the Old Church in Helsinki, he was transferred by motorcade to the Old Cemetery in Turku and interred in a family grave.
Honors and Other
- In honor of sporting achievements Nurmis him the asteroid (1740 ) Paavo Nurmi is dedicated.
- For his 60th birthday organized the Turun Urheiluliitto ( German: Turku Sports Association ) as a gift, the Paavo Nurmi Games.
- The Bank of Finland was 1987, a 10 markka bill with Nurmi on one side and the Olympic Stadium on the other side out, which, if known, the " Flying Finn " is the only Olympic athlete to be honored in this way.
- His birthplace is named for its 100th birthday, a multi-purpose stadium after him, the Paavo Nurmi Stadium.
- His name and the related association with speed found in the Austrian phrase " I 'm jo ned as Nurmi " (I'm not even the Nurmi ) as an excuse for a more modest rate in recreational sports and labor input.
- In the Berlin district of Marzahn - Heller village primary school is named after him.
- Since 1969, Paavo Nurmi Marathon takes place in Iron County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Since 1992, named after him Marathon will be held in his native city of Turku.
- 2012 Nurmi was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame.
Olympic Medals
Note: In the team competition: six Finnish runners at the start were listed are only those that were included in the ranking.