Ville Ritola facts for kids
Ville Ritola at the 1928 Olympics
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Vilho Eino Ritola | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 18 January 1896 Peräseinäjoki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire |
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| Died | 24 April 1982 (aged 86) Helsinki, Finland |
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| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 66 kg (146 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Running | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Tampereen Pyrintö Helsingin Toverit |
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Medal record
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Vilho "Ville" Eino Ritola (born January 18, 1896 – died April 24, 1982) was a famous Finnish long-distance runner. He was known as one of the "Flying Finns". He won many Olympic medals in the 1920s: five gold and three silver.
At the 1924 Paris Olympics, he won more athletics medals than anyone else in a single Games. He got four gold and two silver medals there. He also ranks second for the most athletics gold medals won at one Olympic Games.
Contents
Early Life and Moving to America
Ville Ritola was born in Peräseinäjoki, Finland. His parents, Johannes and Serafia, were farmers. Ville was the 14th child in his family. He had 19 brothers and sisters in total.
In 1913, Ville moved to the United States. He followed seven of his older brothers and sisters there. He worked as a carpenter in the US. He started training as a runner in 1919 when he was 23 years old.
Ville often said that starting his sports career late was a disadvantage. Other famous runners, like Paavo Nurmi, started training when they were much younger. In 1919, Ville joined the Finnish-American Athletic Club. He trained with Hannes Kolehmainen, who was also a great runner.
Ville's first race was a New York street race in 1919. He finished 33rd out of 700 runners. After this, he began to train very seriously. Kolehmainen wanted Ville to join the Finnish team for the 1920 Summer Olympics. But Ville felt he was not ready yet. He had also just married Selma Aaltonen. In 1921, he started competing regularly. In 1922, he won his first gold medals at the AAU Championships. That same year, he came second in the Boston Marathon.
Amazing Wins at the 1924 Paris Olympics
In 1923, Finnish people in America helped raise money for Ville Ritola. This money paid for his trip to Finland. In May 1924, he took part in the Finnish Olympic tryouts. He ran the 10,000-meter race and set a new world record time. This was his first official world record.
At the 1924 Paris Olympics, Ville Ritola won four gold and two silver medals. He had to run races on eight days in a row to achieve this. All of them were long-distance events.
In his first race, the 10,000 meters, he won easily. He beat his own world record by more than 12 seconds. Three days later, Ville won the 3000 m steeplechase by a long distance. The next day, he came second in the 5000 meters. He was just 0.2 seconds behind Paavo Nurmi.
Ville then won another silver medal behind Nurmi in the individual cross-country race. He also earned a gold medal as part of the Finnish cross-country team. Finally, Ville and Nurmi teamed up to win the 3000-meter team race.
Ville Ritola's success in Paris in 1924 was historic. His six medals from those Games are still the most medals won by an athlete in one Olympic athletics event. His four gold medals put him in second place for the most gold medals won by an athlete at one Olympic Games.
Back in the United States
After the Olympics, Ville Ritola had to go back to the US to find work. His wife, Selma, was pregnant and stayed in Finland. Their daughter, Anja, was born in November 1924. Selma and the baby joined Ville in the US in March 1925.
In the winter of 1924–1925, Ville competed in the United States and Canada. He set new world record times in several indoor races. These included the 3000 meters, 3000 meters steeplechase, and 5000 meters. However, these were not official world records because they were run indoors.
Competing at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics
By 1928, Ville Ritola was 32 years old. He had worked in construction for over ten years. He had not trained very regularly. Even so, he had won four gold medals at the AAU Championships in 1927.
At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Ville's main rival was again Paavo Nurmi. This time, each runner won one race against the other. The first race was the 10,000 meters. Ville took the lead early on. Only a few runners could keep up. Eventually, only Nurmi was left with Ville. Nurmi sprinted in the last 100 meters and won by a small margin.
Ville's last Olympic race was the 5,000 meters. Both Ville and Nurmi had minor injuries from earlier races. Ville had a sore ankle. But Ville took the lead again during the race. In the final curve, Ville pulled ahead of Nurmi and won by 12 meters. This victory brought Ville Ritola's total Olympic medals to five gold and three silver.
Ville Ritola never competed in the Finnish championships. However, he won many medals in the AAU Championships in the United States. He was the AAU champion in several events. These included the 6-mile race in 1927 and the 10-mile road race multiple times. He also won the 2000-yard steeplechase and cross-country races several times.
Life After Running
Ville Ritola stopped competing in athletics soon after the 1928 Olympic Games. He only took part in a few more US competitions after that. He went back to working in construction in America. He had physically demanding jobs until 1959. He became a US citizen in 1937.
His daughter, Anja Impola, married and lived in the US until she passed away in 2013. Ville's first wife, Selma, died in 1965. He married Liisa Lauren in 1967. Ville Ritola moved back to Helsinki, Finland, with his wife in 1971. He passed away in Helsinki at the age of 86.
Honours and Legacy
- A statue of Ville Ritola was made by sculptor Maija Nuotio in 1978. It is in his hometown of Peräseinäjoki.
- A sports hall in Peräseinäjoki is named RitolaHalli.
- At Ville Ritola's funeral in 1982, other Olympic heroes, like Lasse Virén, helped carry his coffin.
- Kunto-Ritola is an annual long-distance running event named after him.
Interesting Fact
Ville Ritola's running career inspired a saying in Finnish. The phrase "Ottaa ritolat" means "to pull a Ritola." It means to leave a place very quickly.
In Spanish: Ville Ritola para niños
