PAAVO NURMI & PAAVO NURMI GAMES

Legend: Paavo Nurmi (FIN)

• 9-time Olympic gold medallist;
• 3000m world record set in Turku, 27 August 1922
• 1920, 1924, 1928 Olympic Games – 9 gold and 3 silver medals.
  22 ratified world records

“The Phantom Finn”, coined by American sports writers to describe Paavo Nurmi who was elusive on the track. Three weeks before the 1924 Olympics, he set 1500m and 5000m world records in Helsinki with the races only 55 minutes apart. Under the same conditions as his test, he sped to the 1924 Olympic 1500m and 5000m titles in less than an hour, two of the five golds he won in Paris. Following the Games, the Finn toured the United States racing 55 times in five months, winning 53, abandoning once and losing only once.

Born: Turku, Finland, 13 June 1897
Died: Helsinki, Finland, 2 October 1973.

Competition: Paavo Nurmi Games, Turku, Finland