Finland at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Finland at the 1912 Summer Olympics
Flag of Russia, which flew over the Grand Duchy of Finland
IOC code	FIN
NOC	Finnish Olympic Committee
Website	sport.fi/olympiakomitea (Finnish) (Swedish)
in Stockholm
Competitors	164 (162 men, 2 women) in 10 sports
Medals Ranked 4th	Gold Silver Bronze Total 9 8 9 26
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

The team of Finland at the opening ceremony.

Finland competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. The Grand Duchy of Finland was part of the Russian Empire at the time, but Finland's results are kept separate from those of Russia. In the Opening Ceremony Finland's team paraded under the national insignia flag of a Swedish-speaking female gymnastics club in Helsinki. 164 competitors, 162 men and 2 women, took part in 49 events in 10 sports.^[1]

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
01 ! Gold	Kolehmainen, HannesHannes Kolehmainen	Athletics	Men's 10000m
01 ! Gold	Kolehmainen, HannesHannes Kolehmainen	Athletics	Men's 5000m
01 ! Gold	Kolehmainen, HannesHannes Kolehmainen	Athletics	Men's Individual Cross country
01 ! Gold	Taipale, ArmasArmas Taipale	Athletics	Men's Discus throw
01 ! Gold	Taipale, ArmasArmas Taipale	Athletics	Men's two handed discus throw
01 ! Gold	Saaristo, JuhoJuho Saaristo	Athletics	Men's two handed javelin throw
01 ! Gold	Saarela, YrjöYrjö Saarela	Wrestling	Greco-Roman heavyweight
01 ! Gold	Koskelo, KaarloKaarlo Koskelo	Wrestling	Greco-Roman featherweight
01 ! Gold	Väre, EmilEmil Väre	Wrestling	Greco-Roman lightweight
02 ! Silver	Kolehmainen, HannesHannes Kolehmainen Jalmari Eskola Albin Stenroos	Athletics	Cross country
02 ! Silver	Niklander, ElmerElmer Niklander	Athletics	Men's two handed discus throw
02 ! Silver	Saaristo, JuhoJuho Saaristo	Athletics	Men's Javelin throw
02 ! Silver	Siikaniemi, VäinöVäinö Siikaniemi	Athletics	Men's two handed javelin throw
02 ! Silver	Men's Team	Gymnastics	free system
02 ! Silver	Men's Team	Sailing	10m class
02 ! Silver	Olin, JohanJohan Olin	Wrestling	Greco-Roman heavyweight
02 ! Silver	Böhling, IvarIvar Böhling	Wrestling	Greco-Roman light heavyweight
03 ! Bronze	Stenroos, AlbinAlbin Stenroos	Athletics	Men's 10000m
03 ! Bronze	Peltonen, UrhoUrho Peltonen	Athletics	Men's two handed javelin throw
03 ! Bronze	Niklander, ElmerElmer Niklander	Athletics	Men's two handed shot put
03 ! Bronze	Men's Team	Sailing	Men's 12m class
03 ! Bronze	Men's Team	Sailing	Men's 8m class
03 ! Bronze	Toivonen, NestoriNestori Toivonen	Shooting	Men's 100m running deer, single shot
03 ! Bronze	Londen, AxelAxel Londen Nestori Toivonen Iivar Väänänen Ernst Rosenqvist	Shooting	Men's Team 100m running deer, single shot
03 ! Bronze	Lasanen, OttoOtto Lasanen	Wrestling	Greco-Roman featherweight
03 ! Bronze	Asikainen, AlfredAlfred Asikainen	Wrestling	Greco-Roman middleweight

Aquatics

Diving

Six divers, all men, represented Finland. It was Finland's second appearance in diving, with both of the divers who had represented the nation in 1908 returning. Toivo Aro was the only Finnish diver to advance to the finals, doing so in both of his events. His fifth-place finish in the plain high diving was Finland's best performance to date, improving upon his own sixth-place finish in the 1908 platform competition.

Rankings given are within the diver's heat.

Men

Swimming

Six swimmers, including two women, competed for Finland at the 1912 Games. It was the second time the nation had competed in swimming, in which Finland had competed each time the nation appeared independently. Aaltonen had the best finish of the Games, finishing third in his 400-metre breaststroke final to barely miss qualification for the final.

Ranks given for each swimmer are within the heat.

Men

Women

Athletics

23 athletes represented Finland. It was the second appearance of the nation in athletics, as well as at the Olympics. The Finland athletics team finished with 6 gold medals, 4 silvers, and 3 bronzes—a great improvement over the single bronze Finland won in 1908.

Hannes Kolehmainen finished with the Olympic records in the 5000 and 10000 metres, as well as gold medals in both events and the individual cross country. Armas Taipale added another gold medal and Olympic record in the discus throw, bettering the new Olympic record that Elmer Niklander set and briefly held in the preliminary round; Taipale won a second gold in the two handed version of the discus. Julius Saaristo set an Olympic record in the javelin, though it was quickly surpassed; he finished with the silver medal. The Finns swept the medals in the two handed javelin throw, with Saaristo atop the standings.

Ranks given are within that athlete's heat for running events.

Athlete	Events	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Paavo Aho	Shot put	N/A		12.40	10	Did not advance
	Shot put	N/A		23.30	6	Did not advance
Jalmari Eskola	Ind. cross country	N/A				46:54.8	4
Johan Halme	Triple jump	N/A		13.79	11	Did not advance
	Javelin throw	N/A		54.65	4	Did not advance
	Two hand javelin	N/A		88.54	9	Did not advance
Matti Harju	1500 m	N/A		?	4	Did not advance
	Ind. cross country	N/A				Did not finish
Väinö Heikkilä	Ind. cross country	N/A				54:08.0	25
Verner Järvinen	Discus throw	N/A		38.60	15	Did not advance
	Two hand discus	N/A		66.69	12	Did not advance
Franz Johansson	5000 m	N/A		15:31.4	3	Did not start
	Ind. cross country	N/A				48:03.0	11
Arne Kallberg	Marathon	N/A				Did not finish
Hannes Kolehmainen	5000 m	N/A		15:38.9	1	14:36.6 OR	01 !
	10000 m	N/A		33:49.0 OR	1	31:20.8 OR	01 !
	Ind. cross country	N/A				45:15.6	01 !
Tatu Kolehmainen	100000 m	N/A		32:47.8	1	Did not finish
	Marathon	N/A				Did not finish
Emil Kukko	Long jump	N/A		6.11	24	Did not advance
	Javelin throw	N/A		44.66	18	Did not advance
	Pentathlon	N/A				Elim-4 35	12
Wilhelm Kyrönen	Ind. cross country	N/A				47:32.0	7
Arvo Laine	High jump	N/A		1.75	13	Did not advance
Karl Lindholm	5000 m	N/A		Did not finish		Did not advance
	Ind. cross country	N/A				Did not finish
Jonni Myyrä	Javelin throw	N/A		51.33	8	Did not advance
Elmer Niklander	Shot put	N/A		13.65	4	Did not advance
	Discus throw	N/A		42.09 OR	4	Did not advance
	Two hand shot put	N/A		26.67	1	27.14	03 !
	Two hand discus	N/A		72.05	3	77.96	02 !
Urho Peltonen	Javelin throw	N/A		49.20	9	Did not advance
	Two hand javelin	N/A		100.24	3	Not held	03 !
Lauri Pihkala	800 m	Did not finish		Did not advance
Julius Saaristo	Javelin throw	N/A		55.37 OR	2	58.66	02 !
	Two hand javelin	N/A		109.42	1	Not held	01 !
Väinö Siikaniemi	Javelin throw	N/A		52.43	5	Did not advance
	Two hand javelin	N/A		101.13	2	Not held	02 !
Albin Steinroos	100000 m	N/A		33:28.4	4	32:21.8	03 !
	Ind. cross country	N/A				47:23.4	6
Armas Taipale	Discus throw	N/A		43.91 OR	1	45.21 OR	01 !
	Two hand discus	N/A		80.03	1	82.86	01 !
Valdemar Wickholm	110 m hurdles	16.6	2	16.6	2	Did not advance
	Decathlon	N/A				7058.795	7
Jalmari Eskola Hannes Kolehmainen Albin Stenroos	Team cross country	N/A				11	02 !
Matti Harju Franz Johansson Hannes Kolehmainen Karl Lindholm Albin Stenroos	3000 m team	N/A		12	2	Did not advance

Cycling

Five cyclists represented Finland. It was the first appearance of the nation in cycling. Antti Raita had the best time in the time trial, the only race held, placing 6th. The four Finnish cyclists who finished had a combined time that placed them 5th of the 15 teams.

Road cycling

Football

First round

Italy  v  Finland

1912-06-29

Italy	2 – 3 (a.e.t.)	Finland
Bontadini  10' Sardi  25'		Öhman  2' Soinio  40' Wiberg  105'

Traneberg Stadium, Stockholm Attendance: 600 Finland squad

Quarterfinals

Finland  v  Russia

1912-06-30

Finland	2 – 1	Russia
Wiberg  30' Öhman  80'		Butusov  72'

Traneberg Stadium, Stockholm Attendance: 300

Semifinals

Great Britain  v  Finland

1912-07-02

Great Britain	4 – 0	Finland
Walden  7'  77' Holopainen  2' (o.g.) Woodward  82'

Olympiastadion, Stockholm Attendance: 4,000

Bronze medal match

Netherlands  v  Finland

1912-07-04

Netherlands	9 – 0	Finland
Vos  29'  43'  46'  74'  78' van der Sluis  24'  57' de Groot  28'  86'

Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm Attendance: 1,000

Final rank

4th place

Gymnastics

Twenty-four gymnasts represented Finland. It was the second appearance of the nation in gymnastics, in which Finland had competed at its only prior Olympic appearance. The Finnish team placed second in the team free system event; this silver medal was Finland's best gymnastics result to date, improving upon the bronze medal the team had won in 1908.

Artistic

Gymnast	Events	Final
		Result	Rank
Kaarlo Ekholm	All-around	Did not finish
Karl Jansson	All-around	103.00	31
Villiam Nieminen	All-around	105.75	27
Anders Tamminen	All-around	90.50	37
Yrjö Vuolio	All-around	Did not finish
Finland	Team, free system	21.85	02 !

Rowing

Six rowers represented Finland. It was the nation's first appearance in rowing.

(Ranks given are within each crew's heat.)

Sailing

Twenty seven sailors represented Finland. It was the nation's first appearance in sailing. The Finns took three medals, but were unable to a win any gold medals.

(7 points for 1st in each race, 3 points for 2nd, 1 point for 3rd. Race-off to break ties in total points if necessary for medal standings.)

Sailors	Event	Race 1			Race 2			Total
		Time	Points	Rank	Time	Points	Rank	Points	Race-off	Rank
Ernst Estlander Torsten Sandelin Gunnar Stenbäck	6 metre class	2:39:33	0	4	2:31:02	0	6	0	N/A	5
Arthur Ahnger Emil Lindh Bertil Tallberg Gunnar Tallberg Georg Westling	8 metre class	2:21:03	0	5	2:14:50	3	2	3	2:27:41	03 !
Curt Andstén Jarl Andstén Carl Girsén Gustaf Estlander Bertel Juslén	8 metre class	2:17:28	1	3	2:14:54	1	3	2	N/A	4
Waldemar Björkstén Jacob Björnström Bror Brenner Allan Franck Emil Lindh Adolf Pekkalainen Harry Wahl	10 metre class	3:59:07	3	2	3:50:09	1	3	4	4:21:41	02 !
Max Alfthan Erik Hartvall Jarl Hulldén Sigurd Juslén Ernst Krogius Eino Sandelin Johan Silén	12 metre class	3:25:45	1	3	3:48:55	1	3	2	N/A	03 !

Shooting

Nineteen shooters represented Finland. It was the nation's second appearance in shooting, in which Finland had competed each time the nation appeared at the Olympics independently. The Finns won two bronze medals in the running deer competitions—an individual medal for Toivonen and a team medal.

Shooter	Event	Final
		Result	Rank
Jalo Autonen	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	776	59
Carl Bacher	Trap	13	45
Emil Collan	Trap	38	29
Emil Fabritius	Trap	11	53
Karl Fazer	Trap	86	12
Emil Holm	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	835	49
Robert Huber	Trap	38	29
Heikki Huttunen	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	906	25
	50 m pistol	424	28
Lauri Kolho	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	787	57
Voitto Kolho	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	923	13
Axel Londen	100 m deer, single shots	31	15
Gustaf Nyman	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	913	19
Karl Reilin	100 m deer, single shots	26	26
Ernst Rosenqvist	100 m deer, single shots	32	14
Gustaf Schnitt	Trap	88	4
Nestori Toivonen	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	Did not finish
	100 m deer, single shots	41	03 !
Huvi Tuiskunen	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	875	39
	100 m deer, single shots	28	21
Iivar Väänänen	100 m deer, single shots	28	21
Vilho Vauhkonen	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	870	41
Axel Londen Ernst Rosenqvist Nestori Toivonen Iivar Väänänen	100 m team deer, single shots	123	03 !
Carl Bacher Emil Collan Karl Fazer Robert Huber Axel Londen Gustaf Schnitt	Team clay pigeons	233	5
Emil Holm Heikki Huttunen Voitto Kolho Gustaf Nyman Huvi Tuiskunen Vilho Vauhkonen	Team free rifle	5323	5

Wrestling

Greco-Roman

Finland, competing independently in the Olympics for the second time, sent 37 wrestlers for its second Olympic wrestling appearance. The country was the most successful in the sport, taking seven of 15 medals. The Finns took the top spot in four of the five weight classes (three gold medals and a silver in the class in which no gold was awarded). They compiled a record of 118-64 (112-58 excluding matches pitting two Finnish wrestlers against each other) in the elimination rounds and 8-5-1 (6-3-1 against non-Finns) in the medal rounds.

Koskelo and Väre were the best performers, cruising through their respective weight classes without losses to take gold medals.

Saarela and Olin suffered losses only to other Finns in the heavyweight. Olin was beaten by Viljaama in the elimination rounds, but gave Saarela the latter's only loss of the tournament one round later. The two met again in the final, with Saarela winning the rematch to take the gold medal while Olin received silver.

Böhling made it through the elimination rounds undefeated, and won his match against Varga in the medals round to advance to the final against Ahlgren. The two wrestlers competed for nine hours without either being able to take a win; the match was declared drawn and both wrestlers received silver medals. No gold medal was given in the weight class.

Asikainen's only elimination round loss came in a double-disqualification against eventual gold medalist Johansson. In the medal round, he faced Klein in a bout that lasted 11 hours and 40 minutes. Neither wrestler was able to continue after this grueling match, so Asikainen's loss in it led to him taking the bronze medal, and Klein the silver, while the Swede Johansson walked over against first Asikainen and then Klein to take the gold.

Wrestler	Class	First round	Second round	Third round	Fourth round	Fifth round	Sixth round	Seventh round	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Match A Opposition Result	Match B Opposition Result	Match C Opposition Result	Rank
Karl Åberg	Middleweight	Steputat (GER) W	Kurz (GER) W	Merkle (GER) W	Miskey (HUN) W	Holm (FIN) W	Klein (RUS) L	Johansson (SWE) L	Did not advance			4
Alfred Asikainen	Middleweight	Bacon (GBR) W	Bacon (GBR) W	Victal (POR) W	Andersson (SWE) W	Johansson (SWE) L	Sint (NED) W	Bye	Klein (RUS) L	Johansson (SWE) DNS	Did not advance	03 !
Emil Backenius	Heavyweight	Bonneveld (NED) L	Gerstmans (BEL) W	Barrett (GBR) W	Pelander (FIN) W	Jensen (DEN) L	Did not advance	N/A	Did not advance			6
Ivar Böhling	Light heavyweight	Martin (FRA) W	Gross (GER) W	Oehler (GER) W	Arpe (ITA) W	Christensen (DEN) W	Lange (GER) W	N/A	Bye	Varga (HUN) W	Ahlgren (SWE) Draw	02 !
Lauri Haapanen	Featherweight	Pereira (POR) W	Szoszky (HUN) W	Hetmar (DEN) W	Gerstäcker (GER) L	Bye	Öberg (SWE) L	Did not advance				6
Mikko Holm	Middleweight	Merkle (GER) L	Andersen (DEN) W	Kurz (GER) W	Johansson (SWE) W	Åberg (FIN) L	Did not advance					7
August Jokinen	Middleweight	Gundersen (NOR) W	Polis (RUS) W	Carcereri (ITA) W	Kokotowitsch (AUT) W	Fältström (SWE) W	Johansson (SWE) L	Klein (RUS) L	Did not advance			4
Karl Kangas	Featherweight	Ankondinow (RUS) W	Larsson (SWE) L	Pongrácz (HUN) W	Beckman (SWE) W	Gerstäcker (GER) W	Koskelo (FIN) L	Did not advance				6
David Kolehmainen	Lightweight	Olsen (NOR) W	Eillenbrecht (NED) W	Björklund (SWE) W	Lund (SWE) L	Heckel (GER) W	Kaplur (RUS) L	Did not advance				6
Kaarlo Koskelo	Featherweight	Rauss (AUT) W	Hansen (DEN) W	Schärer (AUT) W	Andersson (SWE) W	Hetmar (DEN) W	Kangas (FIN) W	Bye	Bye	Lasanen (FIN) W	Gerstäcker (GER) W	01 !
Oskar Kumpu	Light heavyweight	Arpe (ITA) L	Oehler (GER) L	Did not advance				N/A	Did not advance			20
Otto Laitinen	Lightweight	Svenson (SWE) W	Fischer (AUT) W	Halík (BOH) W	Radvány (HUN) L	Did not start	Did not advance					16
Otto Lasanen	Featherweight	Beckman (SWE) W	Persson (SWE) W	Gullaksen (NOR) W	Larsson (SWE) W	Johansson (SWE) L	Leivonen (FIN) W	Öberg (SWE) W	Gerstäcker (GER) L	Koskelo (FIN) L	Did not advance	03 !
Hjalmar Lehmusvirta	Featherweight	Cockings (GBR) W	Ciai (ITA) W	Hestdahl (NOR) W	Rauss (AUT) W	Öberg (SWE) L	Gerstäcker (GER) L	Did not advance				6
Kaarlo Leivonen	Featherweight	Ciai (ITA) W	Cockings (GBR) W	Öberg (SWE) W	Beránek (BOH) W	Larsson (SWE) W	Lasanen (FIN) L	Gerstäcker (GER) L	Did not advance			4
Gustaf Lind	Light heavyweight	Pétursson (ISL) L	Arpe (ITA) L	Did not advance				N/A	Did not advance			20
Karl Lind	Light heavyweight	Løvold (NOR) W	Gardini (ITA) L	Ahlgren (SWE) L	Did not advance			N/A	Did not advance			16
Knut Lindberg	Light heavyweight	Lange (GER) W	Ekman (SWE) W	Varga (HUN) L	Nilsson (SWE) W	Ahlgren (SWE) L	Did not advance	N/A	Did not advance			6
Adolf Lindfors	Heavyweight	Sandberg (SWE) W	Jensen (DEN) L	Bye	Neser (GER) L	Did not advance		N/A	Did not advance			7
Fridolf Lundstein	Middleweight	Melin (SWE) W	Bacon (GBR) W	Andersson (SWE) W	Johansson (SWE) L	Sint (NED) L	Did not advance					7
Risto Mustonen	Featherweight	Hetmar (DEN) L	Gerstäcker (GER) L	Did not advance								26
Johan Olin	Heavyweight	Paoli (FRA) W	Lindstrand (SWE) W	Neser (GER) W	Viljaama (FIN) L	Saarela (FIN) W	Bye	N/A	Bye	Jensen (DEN) W	Saarela (FIN) L	02 !
Gustaf Pelander	Heavyweight	Karlsson (SWE) W	Sandberg (SWE) W	Jensen (DEN) L	Backenius (FIN) L	Did not advance		N/A	Did not advance			7
Tuomas Pukkila	Lightweight	Covre (ITA) L	Hayes (GBR) W	Heckel (GER) L	Did not advance							23
Anders Rajala	Light heavyweight	Gross (GER) W	Nagel (DEN) W	Arpe (ITA) W	Pétursson (ISL) L	Eriksen (DEN) W	Varga (HUN) L	N/A	Did not advance			4
Yrjö Saarela	Heavyweight	Karlsson (SWE) W	Hauptmanns (GER) W	Lindstrand (SWE) W	Jensen (DEN) W	Olin (FIN) L	Neser (GER) W	N/A	Jensen (DEN) W	Bye	Olin (FIN) W	01 !
Johan Salila	Light heavyweight	Fogelmark (SWE) W	Pétursson (ISL) L	Eriksen (DEN) L	Did not advance			N/A	Did not advance			16
Johan Salonen	Lightweight	Bouffechoux (FRA) W	Baumann (RUS) W	Kaplur (RUS) L	Frydenlund (NOR) W	Nilsson (SWE) L	Did not advance					11
Aatami Tanttu	Lightweight	Eillenbrecht (NED) W	Olsen (NOR) W	Lund (SWE) W	Heckel (GER) L	Kaplur (RUS) L	Did not advance					11
Paul Tirkkonen	Lightweight	Stejskal (AUT) W	Malmström (SWE) L	Did not start	Did not advance							29
Teodor Tirkkonen	Middleweight	Rhys (GBR) W	Johansson (SWE) L	Johansson (SWE) W	Sint (NED) L	Did not advance						11
Johan Urvikko	Lightweight	Malmström (SWE) L	Stejskal (AUT) W	Orosz (HUN) W	Hansen (DEN) L	Did not advance						17
Emil Väre	Lightweight	Baumann (RUS) W	Bouffechoux (FRA) W	Covre (ITA) W	Kaplur (RUS) W	Balej (BOH) W	Malmström (SWE) W	Bye	Mathiasson (SWE) W	Bye	Malmström (SWE) W	01 !
Kalle Viljaama	Heavyweight	Hauptmanns (GER) W	Paoli (FRA) W	Bonneveld (NED) W	Olin (FIN) W	Neser (GER) L	Did not start	N/A	Did not advance			5
Emil Westerlund	Middleweight	Dahlberg (SWE) W	Frank (SWE) L	Sint (NED) W	Totuschek (AUT) W	Klein (RUS) L	Did not advance					7
Oscar Wiklund	Light heavyweight	Eriksen (DEN) W	Varga (HUN) W	Pétursson (ISL) W	Lange (GER) L	Did not start	Did not advance	N/A	Did not advance			10
Volmar Wikström	Lightweight	Lesieur (FRA) W	Rydström (SWE) W	Mathiasson (SWE) W	Nilsson (SWE) W	Malmström (SWE) L	Lund (SWE) L	Did not advance				6

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Finland at the 1912 Summer Olympics.

• Official Olympic Reports
• International Olympic Committee results database