Jouko Kuha
Jouko Santeri Kuha ( born September 30, 1939 in Ranua ) is a former Finnish athlete, who in 1968 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase set a world record.
Kuha remained in 1962 with 8:54,0 minutes for the first time under the nine- minute mark in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, 1964, he won the Finnish Championship. The following year, he won the national championship in cross-country running and improved over the obstacles on 8:37,6 minutes. After he had won in 1966 for the second time in the Finnish championship, he improved at the European Championships in 1966 the Finnish record 8:36,2 minutes, but could not qualify as a fifth of its forward travel for the final. In 1967, he won his third Finnish Champion title on the obstacle course. In Stockholm he improved his national record of 8:29,8 minutes and was behind the 1967 Belgian Gaston Roelants second in the annual global leaderboard.
In 1968 he won the Finnish championship in cross country his last title. On July 17, 1968, he grew in Stockholm the world record of Roelants by more than two seconds on 8:24,2 minutes, Kuha began rather slowly, but was faster on the last thousand meters above six seconds as Roelants in his world record from 1965. Brief ill after his world record Kuha to a sore throat, after recovery, he did not come in shape so that he did not participate in the Olympic Games in Mexico City. The shape of the 1967 and 1968 reached Kuha not again.
Kuha was the first Finnish world record holder at an Olympic running track since Pentti Karvonen 1955 Kuha was in Finland as a loner because he did not train with other runners.; he was the first Finn, who traveled to the training during the winter in warmer countries. Overall Kuha completed 1958-1995 170 obstacle courses, from 1962 to 1976 he ran every year under nine minutes. At a height of 1.71 meters his competition weight was 59 kilograms.