Flying fin

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Flying Finn (also the English version Flying Finn is used; Finnish Lentävä suomalainen ) is a nickname used in sport for various Finnish athletes. The name originally referred to the successful Finnish medium and long-distance runners in the first decades of the 20th century.

history

The first athlete to be nicknamed the Flying Finn was Hannes Kolehmainen . Kolehmainen won three gold and one silver medals at the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912 . At that time Finland was still part of the Russian Empire. After the First World War, the name continued to be used for runners like Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola , who dominated the middle and long distance distance in the 1920s. In the 1930s, Finnish dominance flattened somewhat with the withdrawal of Nurmis and Ritola, but runners like Volmari Iso-Hollo and Lauri Lehtinen continued to ensure some successes for Finnish athletes. During the Second World War Taisto Mäki and Viljo Heino were among the best in the world. However, the great days of the Flying Finns in medium and long-distance running came to an end after the Second World War at the latest. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were still a few successful Finns to be found in marathons, for example Veikko Karvonen . At the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games , Lasse Virén brought about a comeback for the myth of the Flying Finns. Other runners like Pekka Vasala or Tapio Kantanen have now found their way back to the top of the world. However, this phase only lasted for a short time.

In the 1960s, the term was first applied to other Finnish athletes. A film released in 1968 on the subject of the duel between the Finnish rally drivers Timo Mäkinen and Hannu Mikkola at the Thousand Lakes Rally was entitled "The Flying Finns". The nickname also found its way into Formula 1 , for example as an inscription on Leo Kinnunen's helmet .

Over time, the name could be found in more and more sports in which Finns were able to celebrate great successes.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1912 Stockholm ( Memento of October 5, 2006 in the Internet Archive )