Olavi Mannonen

Olavi Mannonen medal table
Mannonen (left) 1956 with Lars Hall (center) and Väinö Korhonen (right)
Modern pentathlon
Finland
Olympic games
bronze	1952 Helsinki	team
silver	1956 Melbourne	singles
bronze	1956 Melbourne	team

Olavi Aleksanteri Mannonen (born March 7, 1930 in Viipuri ) is a former Finnish modern pentathlon .

Mannonen grew up in a family with two brothers and a sister in Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg). His mother worked in a restaurant. On December 6, 1939, the family was evacuated from Viipuri during the Finnish-Soviet winter war and spent some time in Jämsä . From 1942 they lived in Helsinki . Mannonen originally learned the profession of electrician, which he also practiced until 1951. He then switched to the Mounted Police of Helsinki and in 1971 became its chief of police. In 1990 he finally retired. Mannonen is married and has two daughters.

In 1945 Mannonen met Tauno Jorasmaan, who brought him to sport and accepted him into a sports club with its own beach. Mannonen quickly turned out to be a good swimmer and won several national competitions. In 1952 he competed in the modern pentathlon at the Olympic Games in Helsinki and was third in the team competition together with Lauri Vilkko and Olavi Rokka . At the following games in Melbourne he was able to win silver in the individual and also received a bronze medal in the team competition with Väinö Korhonen and Berndt Katter .

After completing his active sports career, Mannonen was, among other things, the chair of Suomen Poliisin Urheiluliitto (SPUL), the Finnish Police Sports Association, and director of Suomen Nykyaikaisen 5-ottelun Liitto , the Finnish modern pentathlon association. He was also a member of the European Police Sports Federation (USPE) from 1978 to 1990 .

Web links

• Olavi Mannonen in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Olavi Mannonen: Nykyaikaisen 5-ottelun olympiamitalisti ( Memento from June 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Finnish)