Reima saloons

Reima Salonen ( Reima Untamo Salonen ; born November 19, 1955 in Taivassalo ) is a former Finnish walker .

Athletic career

At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal , walking 50 km was removed from the program once. Instead, a world championship was held in Malmö for long-distance walkers only. It was won by the Russian Weniamin soldiersko in front of the Mexican Enrique Vera . Third was the 20-year-old Reima Salonen in 3: 58.53 hours.

Four years later at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow , Salonen finished ninth in the 20 km race in 1:31:32 h. He gave up over 50 km. At the European Championships in Athens in 1982 , Salonen finished eighth over 20 km in 1:28:04 h, while the Spaniard José Marín won. Over 50 km, three days later, Marín was second behind Reima Salonen, who became European champion in 3:55:29 h.

At the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki , Salonen was one of the few local medal contenders. Over 20 km he only finished twelfth in 1:22:51 h. Five days later, the 50 km competition took place in pouring rain; Ronald Weigel from the GDR won ahead of José Marín. Sergei Jung crossed the finish line in third for the Soviet Union, almost six minutes behind . Almost four more minutes passed before Reima Salonen crossed the finish line in fourth after 3:52:53 hours, just ahead of the Mexican Raúl González .

Even at his second Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984 , Salonen failed to win a medal. After 3:58:30 h he was again fourth, more than ten minutes behind the Olympic champion González. He also missed a medal at the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart when he finished 5th after 3:46:14 h. Over 20 km he was disqualified; it was only the second disqualification in his long career.

At the World Championships in Rome in 1987 he finished tenth after 1:24:14 h over 20 km and gave up over 50 km. At the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 , he finished 42nd over 20 km (1:28:25 h) and 18th place over 50 km (3:51:36 h).

Salonen was Finnish champion over 20 km from 1973 to 1983 and from 1985 to 1987. Over 50 km he won the title in 1974, 1975, 1977–1979, 1981, 1982 and 1984–1987.

He ended his career after over 15 years in which Salonen was the best Finnish walker. Valentin Kononen was his successor .

Reima Salonen is 1.77 m tall and weighed 70 kg when he was active.

Best times

• 20 km walking: 1:19:35 h, June 21, 1983, Pihtipudas
• 50 km walking: 3:42:36 h, May 24, 1986, Vantaa

literature

• Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 88/89. London 1988, ISBN 0-948208-05-8 .
• Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Field Athletics. German Society for Athletics Documentation, Berlin 1999.

Web links

• Reima Salonen in the database of World Athletics (English)