Kelpo Olavi GRÖNDAHL

Kelpo Gröndahl was one of the world’s best Greco-Roman light-heavyweight wrestlers in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In addition to his 1952 Olympic gold and 1948 Olympic silver, Gröndahl won silver at the 1953 World Championships and was fifth at the 1947 European Championships. Domestically, Gröndahl was almost unbeatable, capturing 15 Finnish titles, 11 of them in Greco-Roman light-heavyweight (1943, 1946-55), three in freestyle light-heavyweight (1949-50, 1952) and one in freestyle heavyweight (1948). Gröndahl also earned 17 Finnish Workers' Sports Federation titles, 11 of them in Greco-Roman light-heavyweight (1944-48, 1950-53, 1955-56), five in freestyle light-heavyweight (1949-52, 1954) and one in Greco-Roman heavyweight (1949). Gröndahl retired from wrestling after he was not selected for the 1956 Finnish Olympic team and worked as the harbormaster of the port of Pori from 1953-80. He also entered local politics and became a member of the Pori City Council and, later, a member of the Pori City board of directors. From 1962-70 Gröndahl was a member of the Finnish Parliament (Eduskunta) as a member of the Finnish People's Democratic League and was elected as a presidential elector three times, in 1956, 1962 and 1968. He was awarded the Golden Cross of Merit by the Finnish Ministry of Education in 1982 and, in 2008, a park in the Reposaari district of Pori was named after him.