Matti LÄHDE

Matti Lähde won his first Finnish Championships title in 1935 in 17 km, was third in 50 km at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival and was selected to the Finnish 1936 Olympic team. At the 1936 Winter Olympics Lähde first won a gold, his only international championships medal, as a member of the Finnish relay team and then placed 15th in the 18 km. Lähde made his next and last international championships appearance at the 1938 World Championships, where he was 16th in the 18 km. But Lähde’s competitive career was not yet over as he continued to compete domestically until the end of 1940s. In 1939 he won his second Finnish title, in the 18 km, to which he added another one in 1945 in the relay. He won the 50 km at the 1941 Lahti Ski Games and won the 17 km at Puijo in 1943 and 50 km at Puijo in 1946. Lähde last competed in 1948, when he placed ninth in the Vasaloppet. By profession Lähde was a police constable and his son Kyösti Lähde was an ice hockey player who played in the Finnish Championships from 1967-73.