Finland at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Finland at the
1948 Summer Olympics
Finland at the; 1948 Summer Olympics
IOC code	FIN
NOC	Finnish Olympic Committee
Website	sport.fi/olympiakomitea (in Finnish and Swedish)
in London
Competitors	129 (123 men, 6 women) in 16 sports
Flag bearer	Hannes Sonck
Medals ; Ranked 6th	Gold8Silver7Bronze5Total20
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
	1908 ; 1912 ; 1920 ; 1924 ; 1928 ; 1932 ; 1936 ; 1948 ; 1952 ; 1956 ; 1960 ; 1964 ; 1968 ; 1972 ; 1976 ; 1980 ; 1984 ; 1988 ; 1992 ; 1996 ; 2000 ; 2004 ; 2008 ; 2012 ; 2016 ; 2020 ; 2024 ;
Other related appearances
	1906 Intercalated Games

Last updated November 07, 2025

Finland competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. 129 competitors, 123 men and 6 women, took part in 84 events in 16 sports.^[1] As the country was to host the next Olympics in Helsinki, the flag of Finland was flown at the closing ceremony.

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Lennart Viitala	Wrestling	Men's freestyle flyweight	31 July
Gold	Tapio Rautavaara	Athletics	Men's javelin throw	4 August
Gold	Veikko Huhtanen	Gymnastics	Men's artistic individual all-around	13 August
Gold	Paavo Aaltonen Veikko Huhtanen Kalevi Laitinen Olavi Rove Aleksanteri Saarvala Sulo Salmi Heikki Savolainen Einari Teräsvirta	Gymnastics	Men's artistic team all-around	13 August
Gold	Paavo Aaltonen	Gymnastics	Men's pommel horse	13 August
Gold	Veikko Huhtanen	Gymnastics	Men's pommel horse	13 August
Gold	Heikki Savolainen	Gymnastics	Men's pommel horse	13 August
Gold	Paavo Aaltonen	Gymnastics	Men's vault	13 August
Silver	Kaisa Parviainen	Athletics	Women's javelin throw	31 July
Silver	Erkki Kataja	Athletics	Men's pole vault	2 August
Silver	Pauli Janhonen	Shooting	Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions	6 August
Silver	Kelpo Gröndahl	Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight	6 August
Silver	Kurt Wires	Canoeing	Men's K-1 10,000 metres	11 August
Silver	Veikko Huhtanen	Gymnastics	Men's parallel bars	13 August
Silver	Olavi Rove	Gymnastics	Men's vault	13 August
Bronze	Reino Kangasmäki	Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman flyweight	6 August
Bronze	Thor Axelsson Nils Björklöf	Canoeing	Men's K-2 10,000 metres	11 August
Bronze	Thor Axelsson Nils Björklöf	Canoeing	Men's K-2 1000 metres	12 August
Bronze	Paavo Aaltonen	Gymnastics	Men's artistic individual all-around	13 August
Bronze	Veikko Huhtanen	Gymnastics	Men's horizontal bar	13 August

Athletics

Key

Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Q = Qualified for the next round
q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
NR = National record
NH = No height
DNF = Did not finish
N/A = Round not applicable for the event
Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

Men
Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Event	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Runar Holmberg	400 metres	50.6	5	Did Not Advance
Olavi Talja		50.4	4	Did Not Advance
Tauno Suvanto		51.5	4	Did Not Advance
Denis Johansson	1500 metres	3:54.0^[2]	3	—				Unknown	12
Väinö Koskela	5000 metres	14:58.3^[3]	2	—				14:41.0	7
Väinö Mäkelä		14:45.8	2	—				14:43.0	8
Helge Perälä		15:07.8	4^[3]	—				DNF
Salomon Könönen	10,000 metres	—						no time	9
Viljo Heino		—						DNF
Evert Heinström		—						DNF
Pentti Siltaloppi	3000 metres steeplechase	9:22.4	3^[4]	—				9:19.6	5
Aarne Kainlauri	3000 metres steeplechase	9:25.8	2^[4]	—				9:29.0	10
Tauno Suvanto Olavi Talja Runar Holmberg Bebbe Storskrubb	4 × 400 m relay	3:20.6	1	—				3:24.8	4
Viljo Heino	marathon	—						2:41:32.0	11
Jussi Kurikkala		—						2:42:48.0	13
Mikko Hietanen		—						DNF

Field events

Athlete	Event	Final
Athlete	Event	Distance	Position
Valle Rautio	triple jump	14.700	6
Kuuno Honkonen	high jump	1.80	17
Nils Nicklén	high jump	NH
Erkki Kataja	pole vault	4.20
Valto Olenius	pole vault	3.95	7
Yrjö Lehtilä	shot put	15.05	6
Jaakko Jouppila	shot put	14.59	7
Veikko Nyqvist	discus throw	47.33	6
Arvo Huutoniemi	discus throw	45.28	9
Tapio Rautavaara	javelin throw	69.77
Pauli Vesterinen		65.89	4
Soini Nikkinen		58.05	12
Lauri Tamminen	hammer throw	53.08	5

Combined events – Decathlon

Athlete	Event	100 m	LJ	SP	HJ	400 m	110H	DT	PV	JT	1500 m	Final	Rank
Yrjö Mäkelä	Result^[5]	11.9	6.20	13.10	1.8	54.3	17.5	36.12	3.2	62.55	4:58	-	13
	Points	618	603	725	786	656	597	600	575	835	426	6,421
	Adjusted Points	—										6,064
Hannes Sonck	Result^[5]	11.9	6.715	11.83	1.75	55.2	16.8	34.71	3.4	48.24	5:01.8	-	17
	Points	618	728	605	727	618	674	561	652	555	404	6,142
	Adjusted Points	—										5,883

Boxing

Flyweight

Olli Lehtinen (=17th)

Bantamweight

Olavi Ouvinen (=9th)

Featherweight

Matti Tammelin (=17th)

Lightweight

Tauno Rinkinen (=17th)

Middleweight

Valle Resko (=17th)

Light heavyweight

Harry Siljander (=5th)

Canoeing

Men's K-1 1,000 metres

Harry Åkerfelt (6th)

Men's K-1 10,000 metres

Kurt Wires Silver

Men's K-2 1,000 metres

Thor Axelsson, Nils Björklöf - Bronze

Men's K-2 10,000 metres

Thor Axelsson, Nils Björklöf - Bronze

Women's 500 metres

Sylvi Saimo (6th)

Cycling

Five cyclists, all men, represented Finland in 1948.

Individual road race

Team road race

Time trial

Onni Kasslin

Team pursuit

Diving

Men

Athlete	Event	Final
Athlete	Event	Points	Rank
Ilmari Niemeläinen	10 m platform	87.82	19

Equestrian

Individual eventing

Adolf Ehrnrooth and Lilia (20th)
Mauno Roiha and Roa (28th)
Arvo Haanpää and Upea DNF

Team eventing

Adolf Ehrnrooth, Mauno Roiha, Arvo Haanpää DNF

Individual jumping

Tauno Rissanen and Viser (23rd)
Veikko Vartiainen and Pontus DNF

Fencing

Six fencers, all men, represented Finland in 1948.

Men's foil

Men's team foil

Kauko Jalkanen, Nils Sjöblom, Erkki Kerttula, Heikki Raitio

Men's épée

Men's team épée

Nils Sjöblom, Olavi Larkas, Erkki Kerttula, Ilmari Vartia, Kauko Jalkanen

Men's sabre

Gymnastics

Gymnast	Event	Score	Rank
Veikko Huhtanen	Men's all-around	229.7	Gold
Paavo Aaltonen		228.8	Bronze
Kalevi Laitinen		225.65	8th
Olavi Rove		225.2	=10th
Einari Teräsvirta		225.0	12th
Heikki Savolainen		223.95	14th
Aleksanteri Saarvala		221.1	17th
Sulo Salmi		217.45	31st
Veikko Huhtanen	Men's team all-around		Gold
Paavo Aaltonen
Kalevi Laitinen
Olavi Rove
Einari Teräsvirta
Heikki Savolainen
Aleksanteri Saarvala
Sulo Salmi
Veikko Huhtanen	Men's horizontal bar	39.2	Bronze
Aleksanteri Saarvala		38.8	=4th
Einari Teräsvirta		38.7	8th
Paavo Aaltonen		38.4	=12th
Kalevi Laitinen		38.1	14th
Sulo Salmi		38.0	=15th
Olavi Rove		37.4	24th
Heikki Savolainen		37.1	29th
Veikko Huhtanen	Men's parallel bars	39.3	Silver
Heikki Savolainen		38.9	6th
Paavo Aaltonen		38.8	=7th
Olavi Rove		38.6	10th
Einari Teräsvirta		38.4	12th
Kalevi Laitinen		38.1	=16th
Aleksanteri Saarvala		37.6	24th
Sulo Salmi		36.8	31st
Heikki Savolainen	Men's pommel horse	38.7	= Gold
Veikko Huhtanen		38.7	= Gold
Paavo Aaltonen		38.7	= Gold
Aleksanteri Saarvala		37.7	=8th
Einari Teräsvirta		37.0	18th
Kalevi Laitinen		36.9	=19th
Olavi Rove		36.5	=23rd
Sulo Salmi		35.2	=45th
Heikki Savolainen	Men's rings	38.1	8th
Olavi Rove		37.9	=9th
Veikko Huhtanen		37.8	=11th
Kalevi Laitinen		37.4	16th
Paavo Aaltonen		37.3	=17th
Sulo Salmi		37.3	=17th
Aleksanteri Saarvala		37.3	=17th
Einari Teräsvirta		36.8	=27th
Paavo Aaltonen	Men's vault	39.1	Gold
Olavi Rove		39.0	Silver
Veikko Huhtanen		38.4	6th
Einari Teräsvirta		38.3	7th
Sulo Salmi		38.1	=8th
Kalevi Laitinen		38.0	=10th
Aleksanteri Saarvala		36.8	=40th
Heikki Savolainen		36.5	=48th
Kalevi Laitinen	Men's floor	37.15	13th
Paavo Aaltonen		36.5	=29th
Veikko Huhtanen		36.3	=34th
Olavi Rove		35.8	=47th
Einari Teräsvirta		35.8	=47th
Heikki Savolainen		34.65	=58th
Aleksanteri Saarvala		33.9	=67th
Sulo Salmi		32.05	=79th

Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented Finland in 1948.

Rowing

Finland had five male rowers participate in one out of seven rowing events in 1948.^[6]

Men's coxed four

Sailing

Finland was represented in sailing in four classes by 12 male competitors.

Firefly class (one person dinghy)

Eric Palmgren (15th)

Star class (two person keelboat)

René Nyman, Christian Ilmoni (12th)

Dragon class (three person keelboat)

Rainer Packalén, Aatos Hirvisalo, Niilo Orama (6th)

6 metre class

Ernst Westerlund, Rote Hellström, Ragnar Jansson, Adolf Konto, Rolf Turkka, Valo Urho (9th)

Shooting

Twelve shooters represented Finland in 1948. Pauli Janhonen won a silver medal in the 300 m rifle event.

25 metre pistol

50 metre pistol

300 metre rifle

50 metre rifle

Swimming

Women

Ranks given are within the heat.

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Event	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Margit Leskinen	200 m breaststroke	3:11.4	3	3:10.0	6	Did not advance

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Men's freestyle flyweight

Lenni Viitala Gold

Men's freestyle bantamweight

Erkki Johansson AC

Men' freestyle featherweight

Paavo Hietala (=4th)

Men's freestyle lightweight

Sulo Leppänen (=6th)

Men's freestyle welterweight

Aleksanteri Keisala AC

Men's freestyle middleweight

Paavo Sepponen (5th)

Men's freestyle light heavyweight

Pekka Mellavuo AC

Men's Greco-Roman flyweight

Reino Kangasmäki Bronze

Men's Greco-Roman bantamweight

Taisto Lempinen (4th)

Men's Greco-Roman featherweight

Erkki Talosela (=6th)

Men's Greco-Roman lightweight

Eero Virtanen (=6th)

Men's Greco-Roman welterweight

Veikko Männikkö (=4th)

Men's Greco-Roman middleweight

Juho Kinnunen (6th)

Men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight

Kelpo Gröndahl Silver

Men's Greco-Roman heavyweight

Taisto Kangasniemi (4th)

Art competitions

References

↑ "Finland at the 1948 London Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
↑ THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. London: THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. 1948. p. 249. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
1 2 THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. London: THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. 1948. p. 250. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
1 2 THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. London: THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. 1948. p. 257. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
1 2 THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. London: THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. 1948. p. 274. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Finland Rowing at the 1948 London Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2018.

External links

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[sports-reference-1] "Finland at the 1948 London Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2015.

[2] THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. London: THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. 1948. p. 249. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.

[Men's_5000_metres_Result-3] 1 2 THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. London: THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. 1948. p. 250. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.

[Men's_3000_metres_steeplechase_Report-4] 1 2 THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. London: THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. 1948. p. 257. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.

[Decathlon_Report-5] 1 2 THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. London: THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. 1948. p. 274. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.

[6] Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Finland Rowing at the 1948 London Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2018.

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v t e National Olympic Committees at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom
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