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ATHLETICS
Athletics has always been Finland’s favourite summer sport. Over the years Finnish track and field athletes have won a total of
114 Olympic medals, 48 of them gold. Finland occupies the fourth place in the overall medal table of the sport. Finnish track
and field athletes have won at least one medal at every Olympic Games since 1906 except in Athens 2004.
Finnish runners reigned supreme in long-distance events before the Second World War. The chain of success was begun by
Hannes Kolehmainen in Stockholm 1912. Paavo Nurmi won a total of nine Olympic gold medals between 1920 and 1928,
seconded by Ville Ritola with five. Finland won five of the first six Olympic finals in both 5,000 and 10,000 metres between
1912 and 1936. Finnish long-distance running enjoyed a new period of success between 1972 and 1980, highlighted by Lasse
Virén’s four Olympic gold medals in Munich and Montreal.
Throwing events have been another area of Finnish expertise. The latest Finnish Olympic champion in athletics is Arsi Harju,
who won gold in men’s shot put in Sydney 2000. The most successful discipline has long been the javelin, where Finnish men
have won a total of 25 Olympic medals when no other country has won more than seven. Javelin throw is also the only athletics
event where Finnish women have won Olympic medals, the most recent of which was Heli Rantanen’s gold in Atlanta 1996.
In shorter running distances the latest Finnish Olympic medal is Arto Bryggare’s bronze in men’s 110 metres hurdles in 1984.
In the jump events there have been no Finnish medals since Antti Kalliomäki’s silver in pole vault in 1976 and no gold medals
since Vilho Tuulos in triple jump back in Antwerp 1920. Finnish race walkers have won several medals at World Championships
over the years but are yet to convert that success into Olympic medals.