Paavo Nurmi facts for kids

Paavo Nurmi

Nurmi at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Paavo Johannes Nurmi
Born	(1897-06-13)13 June 1897 Turku, Finland
Died	2 October 1973(1973-10-02) (aged 76) Helsinki, Finland
Height	174 cm
Weight	65 kg
Sport
Country	Finland
Sport	Athletics
Medal record Olympic Games Gold 1920 Antwerp 10,000 m Gold 1920 Antwerp Individual cross country Gold 1920 Antwerp Team cross country Gold 1924 Paris 1500 m Gold 1924 Paris 5000 m Gold 1924 Paris Individual cross country Gold 1924 Paris Team cross country Gold 1924 Paris 3000 m team Gold 1928 Amsterdam 10,000 m Silver 1920 Antwerp 5000 m Silver 1928 Amsterdam 5000 m Silver 1928 Amsterdam 3000 m steeplechase

Paavo Johannes Nurmi (13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finnish middle- and long-distance runner. He was born in Turku. Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1500 metres and 20 kilometres. He participated in the Olympic Games twelve times where he won nine gold and three silver medals.

Images for kids

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  Nurmi with his family in 1924

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  Nurmi at the 1920 Olympic trials

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  Nurmi at the 1924 Summer Olympics

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  Nurmi with President Calvin Coolidge during his 1925 U.S. tour

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  Nurmi checks his stopwatch in 1928

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  Nurmi running his only marathon

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  Nurmi in his store in 1939

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  Nurmi lights the Olympic Flame

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  Nurmi in a calisthenic pose

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  Nurmi, Aaltonen and the statue of Nurmi in the Ateneum

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  Nurmi on the ten-mark bill

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  Nurmi beats Wide to a win in Stockholm

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  Nurmi starts a race in Berlin

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  Nurmi returns to the track for the 1952 Olympic ceremonies.

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  Nurmi breaks the 1500 m world record in Helsinki in 1924

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  Nurmi on his way to a 3000 m world record in Berlin in 1926