Väinö Muinonen

Viktor Väinö Muinonen ( born December 30, 1898 in Lappeenranta, † June 10, 1978 in Imatra ) was a Finnish marathon runner.

The 1.67 m wide and its competition time 54 kg heavy runners came in the mid 1930s, the connection to the top. At the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 was Väinö Muinonen in 2:33:46 hours Fifth, where he was on the bronze medal two minutes behind. In Paris in 1938 at the European Championships, he was able to defend the title for Finland, four years earlier Armas Toivonen had won. In 2:37:38,8 hours he had one and a half minutes ahead of the British Squire Yarrow.

After the Second World War Muinonen wanted to defend his title at the European Championships 1946 in Oslo. At the age of 47 years he ran 2:26:08 hours significantly faster than before the war. Nevertheless, he was defeated with about a minute behind his compatriot Mikko Hietanen, who came in third Finnish marathon European champion in a row. Muinonen, who had become 1937 and 1940 Finnish Champion in Marathon, ran in 1949 with over 50 years again 2:36:23 hours on the marathon course.