Eino Penttilä

Eino Penttilä ( born August 27, 1906 in Joutseno, † November 24, 1982 in Pori ) was a Finnish javelin thrower, who in 1930 was successful over the years. He participated in two Olympic Games and won a bronze medal.

After he had thrown 69.88 m on October 1, 1927 in Viipuri, thus improving the two-year old world record of his compatriot Jonni Myyrä by 1.33 m, he was considered a favorite for the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. There, however, he was obviously not at his best and came with 63,20 m as the sixth best scorer of the qualification just to the finals where he could no longer increase and bronze missed by 77 cm. His season best of 67.34 meters would have won him the gold medal, which went to Sweden Erik Lundqvist with the Olympic record distance of 66.60 meters.

Four years later in Los Angeles, it should be better for Penttilä. As five best scorer of the qualification with 64.28 m, it grew in the final at 68.70 m and won the bronze medal behind two compatriots - the outstanding Matti Järvinen ( gold with 72.71 meters ) and Matti Sippala ( silver with 69.80 m ).

A comparison of the best throws by Penttilä and Sippala shows that Penttilä was higher against the silver medalist of the more consistent pitcher:

• Pentillä: 68.70 m (3rd attempt) - 66,86 m (4th ) - 65.40 m ( 2 ) - 64,28 m (1 )
• Sippala: 69,80 m (4th attempt) - 68,14 m (1 ) - 62,98 m ( 2 ) - 61,22 m ( 3 )

At the first European Championships in Turin Penttilä took no further part. Through its rankings on Finnish national championships nothing is handed down.