![]() Olavi Salsola (right, with #12) | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Olavi Armas Tapani Salsola |
Nationality | Finnish |
Born | Keuruu, Finland | December 26, 1933
Died | 8 October 1995 61) Rauma, Finland | (aged
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) |
Sport | |
Country | ![]() |
Sport | Athletics |
Event | Middle distance running |
Club | Turun Urheiluliitto |
Achievements and titles | |
Personal best |
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Olavi Salsola (26 December 1933 in Keuruu – 8 October 1995 in Rauma) was a Finnish male middle distance runner.
In a fantastic evening of 1957, in the Finnish city of Turku, there was an extraordinary event (but also a strange coincidence), for the sport of athletics. Three Finnish athletes have gone under the previous world record of 1500 meters, all three were called by first name Olavi and all three were born in 1933. [1] For this reason, the three athletes are today remembered as "the three Olavis". [2]
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1956 | Olympic Games | ![]() | Heat | 1500 metres | 3:55.00 |
Paavo Johannes Nurmi was a Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" or the "Phantom Finn", as he dominated distance running in the 1920s. Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1500 metres and 20 kilometres, and won nine gold and three silver medals in his 12 events in the Summer Olympic Games. At his peak, Nurmi was undefeated for 121 races at distances from 800 m upwards. Throughout his 14-year career, he remained unbeaten in cross country events and the 10,000 metres.
Vilho "Ville" Eino Ritola was a Finnish long-distance runner. Known as one of the "Flying Finns", he won five Olympic gold medals and three Olympic silver medals in the 1920s. He holds the record of winning most athletics medals at a single Games – four golds and two silvers in Paris 1924 - and ranks second in terms of most athletics gold medals at a single Games.
Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder for the 1500 metres and mile events, and the former world record holder in the 2000 metres. He is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to win a gold medal in both the 1500 m and 5000 metres at the same Olympic Games.
Turun Palloseura, commonly known as TPS, is a professional football club based in Turku, Finland. During the 2022 season, the men's first team of the club competes in Ykkönen, the second highest tier of men's football, and the women's representative team in the Kansallinen Liiga, the highest level of women's football in Finland. Nicknamed "Tepsi", the club was founded in 1922.
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Otto Paul Eberhard Peltzer was a German middle distance runner who set world records in the 1920s. Over the 800 m Peltzer improved Ted Meredith's long-standing record by 0.3 seconds to 1:51.6 min in London in July 1926. Over the 1000 m he set a world record of 2:25.8 in Paris in July 1927, and over 1500 m Peltzer broke Paavo Nurmi's world record (3:52.6) and set a new one at 3:51.0 in Berlin in September 1926. Peltzer was the only athlete to have held the 800 m and the 1500 m world records simultaneously, until Sebastian Coe matched the feat over fifty years later.
Finland competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. 121 competitors, all men, took part in 69 events in 12 sports.
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1740 Paavo Nurmi, provisional designation 1939 UA, is rare-type asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter.
Josphat Kiprono Menjo is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in track and road running.
Joseph William "Joie" Ray was an American track and field athlete and member of the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame. He held world records for the 1-mile (1.6 km) and 2-mile (3.2 km) distances. He represented the United States in the three Olympic Games held the 1920s, winning a bronze medal for the 3000 m team race in 1924.
The men's 1500 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Wednesday, July 9, 1924, and on Thursday, July 10, 1924. As for all other races the track was 500 metres in circumference. Forty middle distance runners from 22 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4.
Sándor Iharos was a Hungarian long-distance runner. Though unsuccessful in major competitions, Iharos ran world records over multiple distances and is one of only two athletes to have held outdoor world records over 1500 metres, 5000 metres and 10,000 metres. Iharos was one of the star pupils of the famous coach Mihály Iglói.
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Olavi is a Finnish masculine given name from Olav/Olaf name. Notable people with the name include:
Olavi Salonen is a Finnish athlete. He is a former world record holder of men's 1500-metre run.
Stanislav Jungwirth was a Czechoslovak middle-distance runner. Jungwirth came third in the 1500 metres at the 1954 European Championships and set a world record for the same distance in 1957.
Eläintarha Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Eläintarha park in Helsinki, Finland. It was opened in 1910 as the first stadium in Helsinki. Today it is mostly used by track and field athletes.
The Paavo Nurmi Games is an annual track and field meet that takes place at Paavo Nurmi Stadium in Turku, Finland. It was first held in 1957. The competition has been part of the IAAF World Challenge since 2017.
On July 11, 1957, in his home town, three of his countrymen dipped under the world 1500 metres record (Olavi Salsola and Olavi Salonen both clocked 3:40.2 and Olavi Vuorisalo ran 3:40.3).
One of the most famous is the famous night of the three Olavis: Turku, Finland; July 11, 1957.