Aarne Salovaara and Johan Kemp competed in two sports, among 46 athletes in the games who competed in multiple sports.[2]
No women competed from Finland. However, Valborg Florström performed in a diving exhibition, which made her the first Finnish woman in the Olympics.[3]
At the time, Grand Duchy of Finland was not an independent country, but an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. However, Finns were qualified to take part independently as a sporting nation, which was a category recently devised by Pierre de Coubertin, in an International Olympic Committee meeting in May 1907. Formal Finnish preparations for the 1908 Games had already began by then. In December, the Finnish Olympic Committee was established, which budgeted 48,000 Finnish markkas (equal to about 200,000 euros in 2018[6]) for a team of 80 to be sent. Half of it was applied from the Senate of Finland, who eventually granted only 8,000 markkas (€30,000 [6]). By June 1908, a further 22,000 markkas (€90,000 [6]) had been raised by various means.[7]
The Finnish Olympic team was mostly selected by trials arranged in the spring of 1908. A few had to be replaced, when gymnastics teachers were defined as professionals.[8]
Most of the Finnish team departed Helsinki aboard steamer Polaris on 7 July 1908. The shooting team had departed on 1 July, and wrestler Verner Weckman travelled independently from Berlin.[8]
Opening ceremony controversies
Polaris arrived in Hull on 13 July, the day of the opening ceremony, late due to a machine breakdown. A train took them to London, where they went directly from the station to the stadium. The hosts penalized the Finnish tardiness by having them enter the stadium last in the Parade of Nations, instead of their alphabetical position.[9]
A further problem was caused by their flag. There was no official flag of Finland at the time, but they had brought three options, one of which represented the coat of arms of Finland, the other two bearing the texts "Finlandia" and "Suomi-Finland". However, none of them was allowed, and the flag bearer Bruno Zilliacus carried a mere cardboard text plaque "Finland" that was borrowed from their dressing room door.[9]
Contemporary assessment
The popular opinion in Finland of the overall athletic success of their Olympic team was meager, considering its numbers.[9]
Finnish sports leaders judged the Olympic participation to have been merely an expensive excursion, and pointed out two principal problems. First was an undisciplined and immoral tourist mindset among the team, which manifested as partying, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. Second was a poor organization for the Games, which included a belated preparation only months in advance; minimal equipment for the team, such as bringing only one javelin; and having no professional coaching.[10]
Finland's best result was Verner Järvinen's bronze medal in the Greek-style discus throw. The athletics team generally performed up to expectations. Only javelin throw was considered a let down.[11]
Unless otherwise specified, results are lifted from:
↑ His qualification result was 5feet 6inches (168cm). However, due to changing conditions, his qualification pool was declared void and to be re-jumped. He did not start the re-jump.
The Finnish divers had low expectations, as they had previously competed in plain jumps only, and their scores suffered from low degrees of difficulty.[38]Valborg Florström performed a diving exhibition with Ebba Gisico of Sweden, which was the first appearance of women in the Olympic pool.[39]
Three groups of gymnasts travelled to the Games from Finland. The 26-man main group took part in the team event and 5 men in the individual artistic event. Viipurin Reipas also sent an exhibition team. The Finnish overall result was considered satisfactory.[41]
The Finnish shooting team performed poorly against expectations and returned in disgrace. The captain of the shooting team, Axel Fredrik Londen, explained in an article that the Finnish shooters could only afford an inferior number of practice shots and inferior gunpowder. There also was an import ban on modern bullets and rifles in Finland.[44]Lauri Kolho blamed the fiasco on antiquated gunpowder and bullets further impaired by a strong crosswind.[45]
Sources differ on the Finnish participation in the trap event:
In the Official Report of the 1908 Olympics (published in 1909), the three Finns are listed among 61 entrants to the trap event. It then details the results for 28 shooters that reached the second stage, implying the Finns were eliminated in the first stage.[46]
Bill Mallon and Ian Buchanan in modern research of the 1908 Olympics (2000) argue that out of the 61 entrants, only about 31 started, all of whom were allowed to advance to the second stage, and the Finns never started the event.[47]
In a contemporary article (1908), Londen describes himself being at the Games in team leader's form, the Finnish shooters entering rifle events only and never mentions Huber or Fazer.[48]
The centennial history of the Finnish Olympic Committee (2007) lists Londen as a competitor who was eliminated in the first round without Fazer and Huber.[49]
The centennial history of the Finnish Shooting Sport Federation (2019) considers Fazer and Huber to not have started the event and Londen eliminated in the first round.[50]
The Finnish swimmers had low expectations and took the games as an excursion. They skipped the freestyle events and competed for the first time in backstroke. Also, they were used to a 25-metre track, but the Olympic pool was 100 metres long, which hindered them in their main event, the breaststroke.[51]
Unless otherwise specified, results are lifted from:
Ledend: W = win, L = loss, /f = by fall, /p by points
According to rumours, Weckman bribed Saarela to throw the light heavyweight final.[54] Modern sportswriters Arto Teronen and Jouko Vuolle consider that there is plenty of circumstantial evidence in favour.[55]
Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala was the inventor of pesäpallo, the Finnish variant of baseball. He was born in the vicarage of Pihtipudas, the son of the minister Alexander Gummerus. In 1969 he became one of the first persons to receive an honorary doctorate in Sport Sciences from the University of Jyväskylä, together with president Urho Kekkonen and Professor Kaarina Kari.
Ragnar Olof Jakob Stenberg was a Finnish sprinter and a sports leader.
Elmer Konstantin Niklander was a Finnish athlete who competed in throwing events, winning the gold medal in the 1920 discus throw and three other Olympic medals and 44 Finnish championships.
Aarne Ihamo Salovaara was a Finnish athlete, who won two Olympic medals and two Finnish championships.
Johan Valdemar "Juho" Halme was a Finnish track and field athlete who competed in the 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics and won six Finnish championships in various events in 1907–1916. He died during the Finnish Civil War. He was born and died in Helsinki.
Armas Johannes Pesonen was a Finnish track and field athlete, who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
Jalmari Verneri Sauli was a Finnish writer and track and field athlete who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.
Evert Brynolf Jakobsson was a Finnish javelin thrower who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
Voitto Valdemar Kolho was a Finnish sport shooter, who won an Olympic bronze and five Finnish national championships.
Jarl Gustaf Anian Jakobsson was a Finnish track and field athlete who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.
Oskar Wilhelm Wetzell was a Finnish diver, who competed at the 1908 and the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Heikki Huttunen was a Finnish sport shooter who competed at the 1908, the 1912 and the 1924 Summer Olympics and won five Finnish national championship golds.
Gustaf Richard Nyman was a Finnish sport shooter, who competed in the 1908 and the 1912 Summer Olympics, and won a world championship bronze.
Huvi Hjalmar Tuiskunen was a Finnish sport shooter, who competed at the 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics, and won a Finnish championship in 1907.
Emil Michael Nässling was a Finnish sports shooter, who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics, and won one Finnish national championship gold.
Frans Reinold Nässling was a Finnish sports shooter who competed at the 1908 and 1920 Summer Olympics and won three Finnish national championship golds.
Hugo Alarik Jonsson was a Finnish swimmer, who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
John Gustav Henriksson was a Finnish swimmer, who competed in two events at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
Herman Edvard Cederberg was a Finnish swimmer, who competed at the 1908 and the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Lauri Wilskman was a Finnish track and field athlete, who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
References
↑ Siukonen, Markku (2001). Urheilukunniamme puolustajat. Suomen olympiaedustajat 1906–2000. Suuri olympiateos (in Finnish). Jyväskylä: Graface. p.369. ISBN951-98673-1-7.
↑ Siukonen, Markku (2001). Urheilukunniamme puolustajat. Suomen olympiaedustajat 1906–2000. Suuri olympiateos (in Finnish). Jyväskylä: Graface. p.37. ISBN951-98673-1-7.
↑ Siukonen, Markku (2012). Olympiakisat 1896–2012. Suuri olympiateos (in Finnish). Jyväskylä: Docendo. p.30. ISBN978-952-5912-57-9.
↑ Sjöblom, Kenth (2007). "Autonominen olympiamaa" [Sporting autonomy]. In Tikander, Vesa; etal. (eds.). Sadan vuoden olympiadi. Suomalaisen olympialiikkeen historia[Centennial history of the Finnish Olympic movement] (in Finnish). Helsinki: WSOY. pp.21–27. ISBN978-951-0-32429-5.
1 2 Sjöblom, Kenth (2007). "Autonominen olympiamaa" [Sporting autonomy]. In Tikander, Vesa; etal. (eds.). Sadan vuoden olympiadi. Suomalaisen olympialiikkeen historia[Centennial history of the Finnish Olympic movement] (in Finnish). Helsinki: WSOY. p.27. ISBN978-951-0-32429-5.
1 2 3 Sjöblom, Kenth (2007). "Autonominen olympiamaa" [Sporting autonomy]. In Tikander, Vesa; etal. (eds.). Sadan vuoden olympiadi. Suomalaisen olympialiikkeen historia[Centennial history of the Finnish Olympic movement] (in Finnish). Helsinki: WSOY. pp.27–28. ISBN978-951-0-32429-5.
↑ Halmesvirta, Anssi (2012). "'Valmistusta' Tukholman olympialaisiin 1912". In Roiko-Jokela, Heikki; Sironen, Esa (eds.). Hannes ja Tukholma[Hannes and the Stockholm Olympics. The Yearbook of the Finnish Society for Sports History 2012]. Suomen urheiluhistoriallisen seuran vuosikirja (in Finnish). Vol.2012. Jyväskylä: Suomen urheiluhistoriallinen seura. pp.112–114. ISBN9789526744025.
↑ Pihkala, Lauri (1924). "Antiikkisen ajan urheilu sekä yleisurheilu nykyajan Olympialaisissa". In Pihkala, Lauri; Jukola, Martti (eds.). Olympialaiskisat ennen ja Pariisissa 1924 (in Finnish). Vol.I. Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. pp.151–153.
1 2 Siukonen, Markku (2001). Urheilukunniamme puolustajat. Suomen olympiaedustajat 1906–2000. Suuri olympiateos (in Finnish). Vol.12. Jyväskylä: Graface. p.264. ISBN951-98673-1-7.
↑ Tahko (28 July 1908). "Olympialaiset kisat". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Helsinki. p.4. ISSN0355-2047. Retrieved 31 July 2017– via Digi — National Library's Digital Collections.
↑ H-i L-o (29 July 1908). "Lontoon olympialaiset kisat". Työläinen (in Finnish). Porvoo: PB Osuuskunta Visa rl. p.3. Retrieved 31 July 2017– via Digi — National Library's Digital Collections.
↑ Mallon, Bill; Buchanan, Ian (February 2000). The 1908 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events, With Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p.112, endnote 239. ISBN978-0-7864-0598-5.
↑ Mallon, Bill; Buchanan, Ian (February 2000). The 1908 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events, With Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p.114, endnote 275. ISBN978-0-7864-0598-5.
↑ Aro, Toivo (1924). "Uintikilpailuista Olympialaisissa kisoissa". In Pihkala, Lauri; Jukola, Martti (eds.). Olympialaiskisat ennen ja Pariisissa 1924 (in Finnish). Vol.I. Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. pp.330–332.
↑ Vartia, Arvo (1924). "Lontoon ja Tukholman olympialaiset voimistelukilpailut ja suomalaisten osanotto niihin". In Pihkala, Lauri; Jukola, Martti (eds.). Olympialaiskisat ennen ja Pariisissa 1924 (in Finnish). Vol.I. Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. pp.413–424.
↑ Siukonen, Markku (2007). "Suomen olympiaedustajat 1906–2006". In Tikander, Vesa; etal. (eds.). Sadan vuoden olympiadi. Suomalaisen olympialiikkeen historia[Centennial history of the Finnish Olympic movement] (in Finnish). Helsinki: WSOY. pp.354, 359, 375. ISBN978-951-0-32429-5.
↑ Virtapohja, Kalle (2019). Sata tarkkaa vuotta. Ampumaurheilun historia Suomessa. Suomen Ampumaurheiluliitto 1919–2019[History of sport shooting in Finland] (in Finnish). Helsinki: Suomen Ampumaurheiluliitto. p.34. ISBN9789519699127.
↑ Aro, Toivo (1924). "Uintikilpailuista Olympialaisissa kisoissa". In Pihkala, Lauri; Jukola, Martti (eds.). Olympialaiskisat ennen ja Pariisissa 1924 (in Finnish). Vol.I. Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. pp.327–330.
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