Kurt Wires

Kurt Oskar Wires, actually Kurt Virtanen ( born April 28, 1919 in Helsinki, † February 22, 1992 in Espoo ) was a Finnish canoer and Olympic champion.

At the 1948 Olympic Games in London, the Swede Gert Fredriksson won in one kayak in the 10,000 meters. With half a minute behind Kurt Wires took second place. Wires collapsed from exhaustion at the finish and capsized. Fourth-placed Dane Knud Ditlevsen kept the Finns while afloat until Wires was salvaged by a referee boat.

At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki Wires joined in double kayak together with Yrjö Hietanen on. Over 10,000 meters won the two Finns with 0.4 seconds ahead of the defending champion Sweden Gunnar Åkerlund and Hans Wetterström. The next day drove Wires and Hietanen over 1000 meters at the same time with the Swedish world champions Lars Glasser and Ingemar Hedberg across the finish line, the Finns won gold after evaluation of the target photos.