Taisto Kangasniemi

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Taisto Ilmari Kangasniemi (born April 2, 1924 in Kankaanpää in the Satakunta region , † October 31, 1997 in Pikonlinna near Tampere ) was a Finnish wrestler.

Career

Taisto Ilmari Kangasniemi began as a teenager with rings . He was a member of the wrestling club "Kankaanpään Meno", a club that belonged to the Finnish Workers' Sports Association TUL . He later switched to "Tampereen Kilpa-Veljet" and "Tampereen Painiseura"; Associations that were also affiliated with the TUL. He wrestled in both styles and first drew attention to himself in 1948 when he won third place in the heavyweight division in the Greco-Roman style at the Finnish TUL championships. In other qualifying matches, he even qualified for the Olympic Games in London that year . There he just missed a medal in the heavyweight division, free style, with a fourth place.

In 1952 he was able to qualify for the Olympic Games . In Helsinki he wrestled again in the heavyweight division, Greco-Roman style, and ended up in sixth place.

At the World Championships in Greco-Roman style in Naples in 1953 , he started very promisingly in the heavyweight division with three wins, but then met Olympic champion Johannes Kotkas , the Estonian who started for the Soviet Union and was defeated by this on the shoulder. With that he came back only to the ungrateful fourth place.

In 1954 he fought in the free style at the World Cup in Tokyo and came in sixth after a victory over the Iranian Ahmed Vafadar and two defeats. In the same style, he wrestled at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne . He showed good fights and was rewarded with the bronze medal after two wins. He also competed in the Greco-Roman style and finished sixth there.

Kangasniemi wrestled at the national level until 1960, but did not start at any international championships.

The results of the championships in which he participated can be found in the following sections.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, GR = Greco-Roman style, F = freestyle, S = heavyweight, then over 87 kg body weight)

Finnish championships

Taisto Kangasniemi became Finnish champion of the official Finnish wrestling federation in Greco-Roman style in 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1962 and 1963 and in free style in 1953 and 1954.

He was Finnish champion of the TUL association in 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1964, each in the Greco-Roman style in the heavyweight division. He was runner-up in 1949 and 1955 behind Olympic champion Kelpo Grondahl , in 1958 behind club mate Vihtori Ahven. In free style, Kangasniemi won the title in 1955 and 1959 and was also runner-up twice.

  • 1948, 3rd place , GR, over 87 kg, behind Kaino Mäkelä and Unto Vento
  • 1949, 2nd place , GR, over 87 kg, behind Kelpo Grondahl and in front of Kaino Mäkelä
  • 1952, 1st place , GR, over 87 kg, ahead of Aarne Nyholm and Einari Aaltonen
  • 1952, 2nd place , FS, over 87 kg, behind Kaino Mäkelä and in front of Erkki Laine
  • 1953, 1st place , GR, over 87 kg, in front of Jaakko Virta and Samppa Mäkelä
  • 1954, 1st place , GR, over 87 kg, ahead of Samppa Mäkelä and Uuno Tuhkanen
  • 1955, 2nd place , GR, over 87 kg, behind Kelpo Grondahl and in front of Jaakko Virta
  • 1955, 1st place , FS, over 87 kg, ahead of Vihtori Ahven and Esko Ojanperä
  • 1956, 1st place , GR, over 87 kg, in front of Viljo Laulainen and Eino Löppönen
  • 1957, 2nd place , FS, over 87 kg, behind Vihtori Ahven and in front of Erkki Laine
  • 1958, 2nd place , GR, over 87 kg, behind Vihtori Ahven and in front of Erkki Repo
  • 1959, 1st place , GR, over 87 kg, in front of Jaakko Virta and Veikko Sara-Aho
  • 1959, 1st place , FS, over 87 kg, ahead of Reino Marjanen and Pentti Kilpa
  • 1960, 1st place , GR, over 87 kg, ahead of Jaakko Virta and Erkki Repo
  • 1960, 2nd place , FS, over 87 kg, behind Ivar Wacklin
  • 1962, 1st place , GR, over 97 kg, ahead of Jaakko Virta and Os si Utriainen
  • 1963, 1st place , GR, over 97 kg, ahead of Ossi Utriainen and Veikko Sara-Aho
  • 1964, 1st place , GR, over 97 kg, ahead of Reijo Pulkkinen and Pentti Aho

swell

  • Documentation of FILA's International Wrestling Championships, 1976
  • various issues of the specialist magazine "Athletik" from 1949 to 1960
  • Website tulpaini.fi

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kangasniemi, Taisto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kangasniemi, Taisto Ilmari
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Kankaanpää
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1997
Place of death Pikonlinna