PAAVO NURMI IN OLYMPIC GAMES

ANTWERP 1920

Monday, August 16th 5000 metres Qualifying Heat

Paavo Nurmi makes his first Olympic appearance in relaxed manner. Four runners will qualify for the final, and Nurmi just observes the situation calmly, making only casual visits to the front of the pack. In the final stretch he sprints effortlessly to second place, five seconds behind Carlo Speroni of Italy, and qualifies with ease.

Tuesday, August 17th 5000 metres Final: SILVER MEDAL

The final of the 5000 metres is run at 3.15 pm; the heat is intense. Nurmi has devised a bold strategy in order to to exhaust the dangerous Swedes Eric Backman and Runar Falk in the first part of the course. After three laps Nurmi takes the lead from Speroni and builds more speed. Only the 20-year-old Frenchman Joseph Guillemot follows him. The 3000-meter mark is passed two seconds faster than Hannes Kolehmainen, the fellow Finn, did in his world record run at the Stockholm Olympic Games in 1912, but Guillemot still refuses to yield and Nurmi begins to lose heart. On the final curve the Frenchman moved to pass Nurmi on the outside and, unaccustomed to final stretch sprinting, Nurmi gives up completely and jogs to the finish line four seconds after the winner has broken the tape.

Thursday, August 19th 10 000 metres Qualifying Heat

Nurmi’s only target in this race is to place among the five finalists with least possible effort. He succeeds in this, finishing in second place, sixty metres behind the Scot James Wilson. The heat is the slowest of the qualifying competition.

Friday, August 20th 10 000 metres Final: GOLD MEDAL

The race is put forward a couple of hours at the request of the King of Belgium. The defeat in the 5000 metres still burning in his mind, Paavo Nurmi has a new game plan. He runs up front in the first kilometres but then drops behind to stalk the fastest man of the qualifying heats, his fellow countryman Heikki Liimatainen. Nurmi sees his error just in time. Liimatainen is already worn out, and together with Augusto Maccario of Italy Nurmi begins to close the gap to the leading duo, Joseph Guillemot and James Wilson. One kilometre to go, Nurmi is back in the leading group, and entering the last lap, only Guillemot is left to fight with him. Nurmi now lets the Frenchman taste his own medicine. He loosens the pace in the backstrech, lets Guillemot take the lead but then sweeps past him on the final curve and takes his first Olympic victory by a margin of seven or eight metres. Nurmi’s time of 31:45.8 is over a minute faster than his former personal best. Guillemot, who had eaten a large lunch just before the race unaware of the change of schedule, vomits on Nurmi’s shoes. Nurmi celebrates his first Olympic title in a way soon to be familiar: just leaving the place with no sign of emotion.

Monday, August 23rd Cross-country race Individual: GOLD MEDAL Team competition: GOLD MEDAL

The cross-country race is the last event of the Olympic track and field program. In the previous day, Hannes Kolehmainen has won an epic gold medal in the marathon and other athletes are already packing their bags. The fight for points between nations is still going on, however, and with two sets of medals to be won, the Finnish team is under orders to take no prisoners. 51 men start the race on a cold and cloudy day. The course is eight kilometres and has no major difficulties. From the beginning the leading group contains all three favourites, Paavo Nurmi, Joseph Guillemot and Eric Backman of Sweden. Nurmi is now full of self-confidence and one by one, others fall from his pace. Three kilometres to go, Guillemot pulls aside, apparently having injured his leg. Closing the Stadium, Nurmi has a 50-metre lead on Backman, but then lets the Swede catch him. Backman enters the Stadium ahead, but 200 metres before the goal line Nurmi finishes him off with an easy sprint. Heikki Liimatainen takes the bronze medal, and when Teudor Koskenniemi crosses the goal line in sixth place as the mandatory third man, Finland wins the team competition as well with 10 points, well ahead of Great Britain, 21 points, and Sweden, 23.

PARIS 1924

Tuesday, July 8th 5000 metres Qualifying Heat

Paavo Nurmi has a relaxed start in his second Olympic campaign. He spends the early kilometres behind the main pack, chatting with team-mate Eino Seppälä. When the audience starts to whistle at the lazy champion, Nurmi picks up pace, takes the lead and wins the heat. His time is a minute slower than his world record mark, set in June.

Wednesday, July 9th 1500 metres Qualifying Heat

Nurmi uses the heat to test his speed and finds it quite adequate. A fast first lap leaves the others far behind, and Nurmi only needs to coast to finish as a winner.

Thursday, July 10th 1500 metres Final: GOLD MEDAL

Paris is caught by a heatwave on Paavo Nurmi’s greatest day. The Olympic finals in the 1500 and the 5000 metres are scheduled to take place inside an hour. On June 19th, at Helsinki, Nurmi had tested the Olympic schedule and broken world records in both distances. Now he only needs to win the 1500 metres without exerting himself too much. Nurmi takes the lead after 200 metres and builds blistering pace. At the 800-metre mark he is almost three seconds faster than in his world record race. Only Ray Watson of the United States tries to keep up with Nurmi but he too gives up before the last lap. With 300 metres to go, Nurmi remembers to relax, slows down visibly and coasts to victory. His winning time of 3:53.6 is still only a second slower than his world record. In the end the rest of the pack, fighting fiercely for the silver, narrows the gap to about twenty metres. Watson pays dearly for his folly and fades to seventh place. Nurmi starts to get ready for the 5000 metres.

Thursday, July 10th 5000 metres Final: GOLD MEDAL

The final of the 5000 metres starts a bit later than expected, but still less than two hours after Paavo Nurmi’s victory in the 1500 metres. Nurmi now has a serious competitor. Ville Ritola has already won two gold medals, in the 10 000 metres on Sunday - with a new world record - and in the 3000 metres steeplechase on Wednesday. The Finnish team officials, allocating races between their two stars, had prevented Nurmi from taking part in the 10 000 metres, and this is the first time that the men will meet. Sweden’s Edvin Wide, who was also born in Finland, tries to shed his former countrymen with hard early pace, but Ritola follows him closely and Nurmi a bit further down the field. Wide’s world record pace lasts until 2000 metres but then begins to fade. At half-way mark Nurmi takes the lead and is followed by Ritola. Wide falls behind, and the rest of the race is a duel between the two Finns. Nurmi leads by seven metres at best, but Ritola closes the gap before the last lap. In the homestretch Ritola makes a move from the outside, but Nurmi answers with a calm change of pace and breaks the tape in 14:31.2, one metre ahead of his rival.

Friday, July 11th 3000 metres team race Qualifying Heat

From every nation six men enter the race, and the placings of the best three are added together to make the team score. Finland’s opponents in the heat are Great Britain, Italy, Poland and Norway. As expected, Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola outclass the rest of the field. In the final stretch they can even wait for the third Finn, Sameli Tala. The trio crosses the goal line at a leisurely pace, Nurmi duly getting the honour to break the tape.

Saturday, July 12th Cross-country race Individual: GOLD MEDAL Team competition: GOLD MEDAL

The Olympic cross-country race takes place on the hottest day of the Parisian summer. The temperature rises to 45 degrees Centigrade in the sun, and on the course there is no shade. The competitors have to run 10 650 meters along the bank of the Seine amidst thick weeds and the fumes of a nearby energy plant. Of 38 entrants only 15 make it to the finish, and of these, eight are carried away on stretchers. Edvin Wide starts again fastest, followed by Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola. After 4.5 kilometres the Finns leave Wide behind, and the Swede never sees the goal line. A couple of kilometres later Nurmi has made the difference and towards the end his lead only increases. Nurmi crosses the finish line a minute and a half ahead of Ritola, looking only slightly tired. The gold medal in the team competition proves to be much harder. For a while, it seems that no third Finn has made the journey home. Then Heikki Liimatainen, semi-consciuos, staggers into the Stadium and after dramatic interludes crosses the finish line in twelfth place. Only three teams get three men through: Finland wins with 11 points, the USA is second with 14, and France third with 20 points.

Sunday, July 13th 3000 metres team race Final: GOLD MEDAL

Many other cross-country racers still recovering in hospital, Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola start for another Olympic final. Finland’s opponents for the 3000-meter team title are the United States, Great Britain and France. Nurmi takes the lead after the first kilometre and never looks back again. Only the American Joie Ray tries to follow the champion but only manages to exhaust himself totally. Ritola leads the rest of the pack before he, too, leaves it at the beginning of the final lap. Nurmi’s winning time is 8:32.0, and Ritola comes second, 8.6 seconds behind. When Elias Katz crosses the finish line in fifth place, Finland’s total score is eight points. Britain takes the silver with 14 points and the bronze goes to the Americans with 25. This completes Paavo Nurmi’s Olympic campaign in Paris: in six days, he ran seven races, won them all and gathered five gold medals. Ville Ritola was also impressive: eight races in eight days, four gold medals and two silver.

AMSTERDAM 1928

Sunday July 29th 10 000 metres Final: GOLD MEDAL

The Olympic 10 000-metre-race takes place on the opening day of the track and field competitions, without qualifying heats. Joie Ray of the United States is the first pace-setter; Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola both keep their heads. After 1500 metres Ritola then moves up front and is followed by Nurmi and Edvin Wide. At the half-way point these three have already developed a hundred-meter lead to the others. After 6500 metres Wide falls behind, and the rest of the race is once more a duel between Nurmi and Ritola. Ritola leads all the time, but Nurmi keeps close with ease. Coming to the homestretch, Nurmi makes his move from the outside. Ritola tries to answer, but Nurmi’s sprint is faster. Nurmi reaches the goal line 2.5 meters ahead of Ritola. 45 seconds later, Wide finishes for the bronze medal. Nurmi’s time of 30.18,8 is twelve seconds slower than his own world record.

Tuesday July 31st 5000 metres Qualifying Heat

Four fastest runners qualify for the final, and Paavo Nurmi only wants to be among them with least effort possible. After 3000 metres a leading group of four is already clear. Macauley Smith of the USA is allowed to win the race, with Edvin Wide second. Nurmi gets pipped at the goal line by Britain’s Herbert Johnston as well and finishes in fourth place, which actually is his worst Olympic result. Behind Nurmi, Kohn of Germany takes a fierce final sprint and finishes within three metres of the champion.

Wednesday August 1st 3000 meters steeplechase Qualifying Heat

Nurmi did not qualify for the Finnish team in the 1500 metres, and the cross-country race has been removed from the Olympic program. Instead, Nurmi decides to enter the steeplechase even though he has tried the event only twice in his life. The first water jump of the heat is almost fatal. Nurmi’s spike cuts into the wooden hurdle, he spins, falls on his back to the deepest part of the water pool and sprains his hip and foot. Lucien Duquesne of France stops to fish him out, and in gratitude Nurmi then paces the Frenchman past the rest of the field. In the final stretch Nurmi offers to let him win the heat, but Duquesne gracefully refuses and crosses the goal line behind the champion.

Friday August 3rd 5000 metres Final: SILVER MEDAL

Both Finnish favourites carry injuries from the steeplechase heats. Paavo Nurmi’s left hip is almost numb and Ville Ritola has sprained his ankle. After two laps Nurmi moves up front and Ritola follows, ankle clearly hurting. Nurmi’s pace causes no problems for the rest of the field, however, and at half-way point Ritola takes the lead and picks up speed with a painful grin. One kilometre to go, Edvin Wide and Leo Lermond of the United States still trail Ritola and Nurmi, but when Ritola makes his move 600 metres from the finish, only Nurmi follows. Everyone now expect another sprint victory for Nurmi and coming to the final stretch, Nurmi launches his attack. But Ritola develops a fierce sprint and, to general surprise, pulls away to victory. In the final metres Nurmi even has to fight for the silver, barely beating Wide by a metre. After the race Nurmi sits on the grass for a long time, nursing his sore hip. Never before had he looked so tired.

Saturday August 4th 3000 metres steeplechase Final: SILVER MEDAL

Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola start with no great expectations, both worn by their injuries and the gruelling 5000-meter-race of the previous day. Nurmi, still in pain, has trouble at hurdles but takes compensation between them. Finns have a well-planned team strategy for the race. After 2000 metres Toivo Loukola, their leading specialist, makes an attack and develops a 30-meter gap to the rest of the field, led by Nurmi. The French and the Americans keep monitoring Nurmi who make no move to catch Loukola. Quite the opposite, Nurmi keeps the pace down and just concentrates on fending off foreign opposition, giving his countryman a safe passage to gold medal. In the final lap Nurmi then leaves the pack behind, and when Ove Andersen does the same in the homestretch, Finland sweeps all the medals. Loukola’s winning time is a new unofficial world record. Nurmi loses nine seconds to him, but his time of 9:30.8 is also better than the previous best mark.

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Last Updated August 5th 1997 © The Sports Museum Foundation of Finland 1997