Pauli Riihimäki
| Pauli Riihimäki medal table |
||
|---|---|---|
| Finland | ||
| World Championship | ||
| silver | 1951 Helsinki | Heavy freestyle |
| European Championship | ||
| bronze | 1947 Prague | Heavy freestyle |
Pauli Toivo Johannes Riihimäki (born November 24, 1916 in Aura near Turku , † November 26, 1979 ) was a Finnish wrestler .
Career
Pauli Riihimäki started wrestling as a teenager. He belonged to the Helsingin Paini-Miehet sports club and, as was often the case at the time, was active in both styles, the Greco-Roman and the free. As an adult, he weighed around 90 kg and mostly started in the heavyweight division, which in his day started at 87 kg body weight.
From 1940 he won medals at the Finnish championship. In the Greco-Roman style he took 3rd place in the heavyweight division in 1940 behind Uuno Vento and Yrjö Turja and in free style he also came in 3rd place in the same weight class in 1942 behind Pekka Mellavuo and Veikko Peräkorpi. He only became Finnish heavyweight champion in the Greco-Roman style in 1944. In free style, Pauli Riihimäki was Finnish champion five times in 1945, 1950, 1951 and 1952 in heavyweight and 1948 in light heavyweight.
Pauli Riihimäki's international career suffered from the fact that no international championships were held between 1940 and 1945 as a result of World War II. In 1936 he was still too young to take part in the Olympic Games, but the Olympic Games were canceled in 1940 and 1944. In 1948 he tried to qualify at the Finnish championship in the Greco-Roman style in the light heavyweight division for the 1948 Olympic Games in London. But he failed because of Kelpo Grondahl , behind whom he took 2nd place. Kelpo Grondahl was then also Olympic champion in London. At the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952 Tauno Kovanen , who finished third behind him and Jaakko Virta in the Finnish championship, was preferred to him.
In 1947 Pauli Riihimäki started at the European Championship in Greco-Roman style in Prague. In the heavyweight division, he lost there in his first fight against Mustafa Çakmak from Turkey. He then defeated Bertil Antonsson , Sweden, János Rihetzky , Hungary, Jaroslav Sysel, Czechoslovakia and Natale Vecchi, Italy. He finished third behind Johannes Kotkas , the Estonian European champion from 1939, who started for the Soviet Union from 1946, and Mustafa Cakmak.
In 1950 world championships were held in Stockholm for the first time since 1922. Pauli Riihimäki started in the Greco-Roman style in the heavyweight division and lost to both Bertil Antonsson and Gyula Bóbis from Hungary and took 6th place.
At the 1951 World Championships in Helsinki Pauli Riihimäki started again in the heavyweight division. That year the world championship was held in free style. Pauli Riihimäki had bye in the 1st round. In the 2nd round he lost to Willy Lardon from Switzerland. In the 3rd round he defeated Natale Vecchi from Italy and in the 4th round he lost to Bertil Antonsson, in which Natale Vecchi again defeated Willy Lardon. The complicated analysis of these results then showed that Bertil Antonsson was world champion ahead of Pauli Riihimäki, Natale Vecchi and Willy Lardon.
International success
| year | space | competition | style | Weight class | Results |
| 1947 | 3. | EM in Prague | Greco | Heavy | after a loss against Mustafa Cakmak, Turkey and victories over Bertil Antonsson , Sweden, János Rihetzky, Hungary, Jaroslav Sysel, Czechoslovakia and Natale Vecchi, Italy |
| 1950 | 6th | World Cup in Stockholm | Greco | Heavy | after defeats against Bertil Antonsson and Gyula Bóbis, Hungary |
| 1951 | 2. | World Cup in Helsinki | F. | Heavy | after a bye, a loss to Willy Lardon, Switzerland, a win over Natale Vecchi, Italy and a loss to Bertil Antonsson |
- Explanations
- Greco = Greco-Roman style, F = freestyle
- Lightweight, at that time up to 87 kg, heavyweight, from 87 kg body weight
- WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship
literature
- Athletics magazine
- Documentation of International Wrestling Championships 1896 to 1976; Published by: International World Wrestling Federation (FILA), 1976
Web links
- Profile of Pauli Riihimäki at the Institute for Applied Training Science
- Portrait of Pauli Riihimäki
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Riihimäki, Pauli |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Riihimäki, Pauli Toivo Johannes |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Finnish wrestler |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 24, 1916 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Aura , Finland |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 26, 1979 |