Werner JÄRVINEN

In 1906, Verner Järvinen became the first Finn to win an Olympic gold. Järvinen took up sports, wrestling and the shot put and discus throw, when he joined the Army. During his career, Järvinen competed at three Olympics. In his first Olympics, in 1906, Järvinen was a solid medal candidate in multiple events. In the shot put he reportedly had the longest efforts, but was disqualified for throwing the shot. In the javelin he finished fifth behind four Swedes, less than a metre behind silver medalist Knut Lindberg. In the discus he finished third and then finally won gold in a Greek-style discus competition. At the 1908 Olympics, Järvinen finished third in the Greek-style discus and fourth in the regular discus. Järvinen appeared at the Olympics for one more time in 1912, this time competing only in the discus. At age 42, he finished 15th in the regular discus and 12th in the both hands competition. During his career, Järvinen also won three Finnish titles all of them in Greek-style discus throw in 1909-1911. Järvinen had four sons and three of them – Kalle, Akilles and Matti – would become noted Olympians in their own right. Kalle broke the European record in shot put in 1927 with a mark of 15.17, and competed in that event at the 1932 Olympics. Akilles was a two-time Olympic silver medalist (1928, 1932) and a world record holder in the decathlon. And Matti was a javelin thrower, who won the Olympic gold in 1932 and broke the world javelin record 10 times. All of the sons were originally coached by their father, Verner Järvinen.

Personal Bests: SP – 13.93 (1903); DT – 44.84 (1909); JT – 44.25 (1906).