Hannes Kolehmainen biography

 Hannes Kolehmainen biography

Hannes Kolehmainen, byname of Johannes Kolehmainen, (born Dec. 9, 1889, Kuopio, Finland—died Jan. 11, 1966, Helsinki), Finnish athlete who was the primary of the good fashionable Finnish long-distance runners. Noted for his distinctive endurance, he gained 4 Olympic gold medals.

Kolehmainen was born into an athletic household—two older brothers had been additionally notable long-distance runners—and he started operating in his teenagers, profitable the British four-mile championship in 1911. At the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, underneath a scorching solar, Kolehmainen led the ten,000-metre race from the primary lap and gained simply. He ran a detailed second to France’s Jean Bouin for a lot of the 5,000-metre race, forging forward with lower than 20 m left to win in a world document 14 min 36.6 sec. His third gold medal got here within the cross-country race (since discontinued) which on the time measured about 8,000 m (about 5 miles). Though he set one other world document in a warmth of the three,000-metre staff race, Finland didn't qualify for the finals that yr.

Kolehmainen ran with a easy stride, holding his arms excessive and twirling them in an uncommon movement; he educated exhausting and noticed a vegetarian food plan. From 1912 to 1921 he lived within the United States, the place he continued to compete and set data in indoor and outside races in 1913. At the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, he ran for Finland within the longest of all Olympic marathons—42,750 m—and, in a driving rain, gained a slim victory with a time of two h 32 min 35.8 sec.