Mikko Hietanen

Mikko Hietanen (born September 22, 1911 in Uusikirkko , † February 3, 1999 in Laukaa ) was a Finnish marathon runner. The 1.68 m tall runner, who weighed 55 kg when he competed, was the third European marathon champion in 1946 . He ran five world records on short distances.

At the European Championships in Oslo in 1946 , Hietanen won in 2:24:55 h on a route that was only 40.2 km long. Hietanen was the third Finnish marathon winner after Armas Toivonen and Väinö Muinonen at the third European Championships . Muinonen finished second behind Hietanen in Oslo at the age of 47. Almost simultaneously, on the same track, but running in the opposite direction, Viljo Heino and Helge Perälä won the 10,000 meter run . On August 22, 1946, Finland won gold and silver twice on the long runs within a few minutes.

Hietanen ran his first marathon in 1943. 1945 to 1948 he was Finnish champion. In 1946 he won the traditional marathon in Košice . In 1947 he finished second in the Boston Marathon , where he ran his fastest regular time with 2:29:39 h. At the Olympic Games in London in 1948 , he gave up injured. Four years later at the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952 he was 17th in front of a home crowd in 2:34:01 h. At the age of 50, he ran 2:44:58 and completed his last marathon when he was over 70.

World records

discipline	power	date	place
15 miles	1: 18: 48.0 h	August 20, 1947	Kuopio , Finland
15 miles	1: 17: 28.6 h	May 23, 1948	Kokkola , Finland
25,000 meters	1:20: 14.0 h	May 23, 1948	Kokkola, Finland
30 kilometers	1: 40: 49.8 h	September 28, 1947	Jyväskylä , Finland
30 kilometers	1: 40: 46.4 h	June 20, 1948	Jyväskylä, Finland

literature

• Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 1999 . Surbiton 1999 ISBN 1-899807-04-7
• Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Field Athletics . Berlin 1999, published by the German Society for Athletics Documentation eV