Eino Mauno VIRTANEN

Eino Virtanen had a very long career, over 20 years, as a wrestler, although his best years were probably during World War II. Virtanen won Greco-Roman welterweight Olympic bronze in 1936 and captured the 1946 European middleweight title. He also won European Championships Greco-Roman welterweight bronze in 1939 and silver at the 1931 Workers’ Olympiad. Domestically, Virtanen won five Finnish titles: in 1936, 1939, 1943 and 1945 in Greco-Roman welterweight and in 1946 in freestyle middleweight. His brother Lasse was a track & field athlete, who won 5 and 10K Olympic bronze medals in 1932.