1948 Summer Olympics / Participant (Finland)

FIN

8th	7th	5

Finland participated in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London with a delegation of 129 athletes (123 men and 6 women) in 84 competitions in 16 competitions.

The Finnish athletes won eight gold, seven silver and five bronze medals. Finland took sixth place in the medal table . Olympic champions were the athlete Tapio Rautavaara in the javelin throw, the wrestler Lennart Viitala in the freestyle flyweight and the gymnasts Heikki Savolainen , Veikko Huhtanen and Paavo Aaltonen with shared victory on the pommel horse, Veikko Huhtanen in the individual all-around, Paavo Aaltanen in the horse jump, Veikki Savolainen and Heikki Savolainen Paavo Aaltonen, Kalevi Laitinen , Olavi Rove , Aleksanteri Saarvala , Sulo Salmi and Einari Teräsvirta in the team all-around competition. The architect Yrjö Lindegren and the poet Aale Tynni secured further gold medals at the art competitions , but these are not part of the official medal table.

The flag bearer at the opening ceremony was the athlete Hannes Sonck .

Participants by sport

Boxing

• Olli Lehtinen

  Flyweight: eliminated in the 1st round

• Olavi Ouvinen

  Bantamweight: eliminated in the round of 16

• Matti Tammelin

  Featherweight: eliminated in the 1st round

• Tauno Rinkinen

  Lightweight: eliminated in the 1st round

• Valfrid Resch

  Middleweight: eliminated in the 1st round

• Harry Siljander

  Light Heavyweight: Eliminated in the quarterfinals

fencing

Men

• Kauko Jalkanen

  Foil: eliminated in the 1st round

  Saber: eliminated in the 1st round

  Foil team: eliminated in the quarterfinals

  Epee team: eliminated in the 1st round

• Heikki Raitio

  Foil: eliminated in the 1st round

  Foil team: eliminated in the quarterfinals

• Nils Sjöblom

  Epee: eliminated in the quarterfinals

  Saber: eliminated in the 1st round

  Foil team: eliminated in the quarterfinals

  Epee team: eliminated in the 1st round

• Erkki Kerttula

  Epee: eliminated in the 1st round

  Saber: eliminated in the 1st round

  Foil team: eliminated in the quarterfinals

  Epee team: eliminated in the 1st round

• Ilmari Vartia

  Epee: eliminated in the 1st round

  Epee team: eliminated in the 1st round

• Olavi Larkas

  Epee team: eliminated in the 1st round

Weightlifting

• Einar Sundström

  Bantamweight: 14th place

• Pentti Kotvio

  Bantamweight: 18th place

• Frank Teräskari

  Lightweight: 15th place

• Juhani Vellamo

  Light Heavyweight: 7th place

canoe

Men

• Harry Åkerfelt

  Single kayak 1000 m: 6th place

• Kurt Wires

  Single kayak 10,000 m: silver

• Ture Axelsson

  Two-person kayak 1000 m: bronze

  Double kayak 10,000 m: bronze

• Nils Björklöf

  Two-person kayak 1000 m: bronze

  Double kayak 10,000 m: bronze

Women

• Sylvi Saimo

  Single kayak 500 m: 6th place

Art competitions

• Kalervo Tuukkanen
• Wäinö Aaltonen
• Heikki Asunta
• Einar Englund
• Yrjö Lindegren

  Urban development plans: gold

• Eels Tynni

  Lyric works: gold

• Ilmari Niemeläinen

  Urban design: bronze

athletics

Men

• Olavi Talja

  400 m: eliminated in the preliminary run

  4 x 400 meter relay: 4th place

• Tauno Suvanto

  400 m: eliminated in the preliminary run

  4 x 400 meter relay: 4th place

• Runar Holmberg

  400 m: eliminated in the preliminary run

  4 x 400 meter relay: 4th place

• Denis Johansson

  1500 m: 12th place

• Olavi Luoto

  1500 m: eliminated in the preliminary run

• Väinö Koskela

  5000 m: 7th place

• Väinö Mäkelä

  5000 m: 8th place

• Helge Perälä

  5000 m: 11th place

• Solomon Kings

  10,000 m: 9th place

• Viljo Heino

  10,000 m: race not finished

  Marathon: 11th place

• Evert Heinström

  10,000 m: race not finished

• Jussi Kurikkala

  Marathon: 13th place

• Mikko Hietanen

  Marathon: race not finished

• Bertel Storskrubb

  400 m hurdles: eliminated in the semifinals

  4 x 400 meter relay: 4th place

• Pentti Siltaloppi

  3000 m obstacle: 5th place

• Aarne Kainlauri

  3000 m obstacle: 10th place

• Paavo Toivari

  3000 m obstacle: eliminated in the preliminary run

• Kuuno honors

  High jump: 17th place

• Nils Nicklén

  High jump: without a valid attempt in the final

• Erkki Kataja

  Pole vault: silver

• Valto Olenius

  Pole vault: 7th place

• Valle Rautio

  Triple jump: 6th place

• Yrjö Lehtilä

  Shot put: 6th place

• Jaakko Jouppila

  Shot put: 7th place

• Veikko Nyqvist

  Discus throw: 6th place

• Arvo Huutoniemi

  Discus throw: 9th place

• Lauri Tamminen

  Hammer throw: 5th place

• Reino Kuivamäki

  Hammer throw: 14th place

• Tapio Rautavaara

  Javelin throw: gold

• Pauli Vesterinen

  Javelin throw: 4th place

• Soini Nikkinen

  Javelin throw: 12th place

• Yrjö Mäkelä

  Decathlon: 13th place

• Hannes Sonck

  Decathlon: 17th place

Women

• Mirja Jämes

  80 m hurdles: eliminated in the preliminary run

• Kyllikki Naukkarinen

  80 m hurdles: eliminated in the preliminary run

• Kaisa Parviainen

  Long jump: 13th place

  Javelin throw: silver

Modern pentathlon

• Lauri Vilkko

  Singles: 4th place

• Olavi Larkas

  Singles: 5th place

• Viktor Platan

  Singles: 10th place

Cycling

• Paul Backman

  Road Race: Race not finished

  Road team classification: Race not finished

• Torvald Högström

  Road Race: Race not finished

  Road team classification: Race not finished

  Track 4000 m team pursuit: eliminated in the 2nd round

• Erkki Koskinen

  Road Race: Race not finished

  Road team classification: Race not finished

  Track 4000 m team pursuit: eliminated in the 2nd round

• Onni Kasslin

  Track 1000 m time trial: 10th place

  Track 4000 m team pursuit: eliminated in the 2nd round

• Paavo Kuusinen

  Track 4000 m team pursuit: eliminated in the 2nd round

horse riding

• Tauno Rissanen

  Show jumping: 23rd place

• Veikko Vartiainen

  Show jumping: eliminated

• Adolf Ehrnrooth

  Versatility: 20th place

  Versatility team: eliminated

• Mauno Roiha

  Versatility: 28th place

  Versatility team: eliminated

• Arvo Haanpää

  Versatility: Eliminated

  Versatility team: eliminated

Wrestling

• Reino Kangasmäki

  Flyweight, Greco-Roman: bronze

• Taisto Lempinen

  Bantamweight, Greco-Roman: 4th place

• Erkki Talosela

  Featherweight, Greco-Roman: 6th place

• Eero Virtanen

  Lightweight, Greco-Roman: 6th place

• Veikko Männikkö

  Greterweight, Greco-Roman: 4th place

• Juho Kinnunen

  Middleweight, Greco-Roman: 6th place

• Kelpo Grondahl

  Light Heavyweight, Greco-Roman: Silver

• Taisto Kangasniemi

  Heavyweight, Greco-Roman: 4th place

• Lennart Viitala

  Flyweight, freestyle: gold

• Erkki Johansson

  Bantamweight, freestyle: eliminated in the 3rd round

• Paavo Hietala

  Featherweight, freestyle: 4th place

• Sulo Leppänen

  Lightweight, freestyle: 6th place

• Aleksanteri Keisala

  Welterweight, freestyle: eliminated in the 2nd round

• Paavo Sepponen

  Middleweight, freestyle: 5th place

• Pekka Mellavuo

  Light heavyweight, freestyle: eliminated in the 2nd round

rowing

• Veikko Lommi

  Four with helmsman: eliminated in the quarterfinals

• Helge Forsberg

  Four with helmsman: eliminated in the quarterfinals

• Oiva Lommi

  Four with helmsman: eliminated in the quarterfinals

• Osrik Forsberg

  Four with helmsman: eliminated in the quarterfinals

• Veli Autio

  Four with helmsman: eliminated in the quarterfinals

shoot

• Leo Ravilo

  Rapid fire pistol 25 m: 5th place

• Väinö Heusala

  Rapid fire pistol 25 m: 6th place

• Jaakko Rintanen

  Rapid fire pistol 25 m: 29th place

• Eino Saarnikko

  Free pistol 50 m: 10th place

• Klaus Lahti

  Free pistol 50 m: 19th place

• Väinö Skarp

  Free pistol 50 m: 20th place

• Pauli Janhonen

  Free rifle three position fight 300 m: silver

• Olavi Elo

  Free rifle three-position fight 300 m: 5th place

• Kullervo Leskinen

  Free rifle three-position fight 300 m: 6th place

• Albert Ravila

  Small bore rifle lying 50 m: 7th place

• Veijo Kaakinen

  Small bore rifle lying 50 m: 14th place

• Onni Hynninen

  Small bore rifle lying 50 m: 16th place

swim

Women

• Margit Leskinen

  200 m chest: eliminated in the semifinals

sailing

• Eric Palmgren

  Finn dinghy: 15th place

• René Nyman

  Star: 12th place

• Christian Ilmoni

  Star: 12th place

• Rainer Packalén

  Dragons: 6th place

• Aatos Hirvisalo

  Dragons: 6th place

• Niilo Orama

  Dragons: 6th place

• Ernst Westerlund

  6-meter class: 9th place

• Red Hellström

  6-meter class: 9th place

• Ragnar Jansson

  6-meter class: 9th place

• Adolf account

  6-meter class: 9th place

• Rolf Turkka

  6-meter class: 9th place

• Valo Urho

  6-meter class: 9th place

do gymnastics

Men

• Veikko Huhtanen

  Individual all-around: gold

  Floor: 34th place

  Horse jump: 6th place

  Ingot: silver

  Horizontal bar: bronze

  Rings: 11th place

  Pommel horse: gold

  Team all-around: gold

• Paavo Aaltonen

  Individual all-around: bronze

  Floor: 29th place

  Horse jump: gold

  Bars: 7th place

  Horizontal bar: 12th place

  Rings: 17th place

  Pommel horse: gold

  Team all-around: gold

• Kalevi Laitinen

  Individual all-around: 8th place

  Floor: 13th place

  Horse jump: 10th place

  Bars: 16th place

  Horizontal bar: 14th place

  Rings: 16th place

  Pommel horse: 19th place

  Team all-around: gold

• Olavi Rove

  Individual all-around: 10th place

  Floor: 47th place

  Horse jump: silver

  Bars: 10th place

  Horizontal bar: 24th place

  Rings: 9th place

  Pommel horse: 23rd place

  Team all-around: gold

• Einari Teräsvirta

  Individual all-around: 12th place

  Floor: 47th place

  Horse jump: 7th place

  Bars: 12th place

  Horizontal bar: 8th place

  Rings: 27th place

  Pommel horse: 18th place

  Team all-around: gold

• Heikki Savolainen

  Individual all-around: 14th place

  Floor: 58th place

  Horse jump: 48th place

  Bars: 6th place

  Horizontal bar: 29th place

  Rings: 8th place

  Pommel horse: gold

  Team all-around: gold

• Aleksanteri Saarvala

  Individual all-around: 17th place

  Floor: 67th place

  Horse jump: 40th place

  Bars: 24th place

  Horizontal bar: 4th place

  Rings: 17th place

  Pommel horse: 8th place

  Team all-around: gold

• Sulo Salmi

  Individual all-around: 31st place

  Floor: 79th place

  Horse jump: 8th place

  Bars: 31st place

  Horizontal bar: 15th place

  Rings: 17th place

  Pommel horse: 45th place

  Team all-around: gold

Diving

• Ilmari Niemeläinen

  10 m high diving: 19th place

Web links

• Finnish Olympic team from 1948 in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )