Elias Katz

Elias Katz was a Finnish middle-distance and steeplechase runner of the 1920s who won two medals at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Born in Turku in 1901 to a Jewish family, he began in local sport with the small Jewish club there, moved to Helsinki in 1921 and trained alongside Paavo Nurmi, who helped him refine his technique. At Paris he took silver in the 3000 metre steeplechase and then joined Nurmi and Ville Ritola to win gold in the 3000 metre team race. In 1926 he was part of the Finnish four-man relay team that set a world record. After an ankle injury kept him out of the 1928 Games he worked as a coach with the Bar Kokhba club in Berlin until the Nazi government barred Jews from sport, and in 1933 he emigrated to Mandatory Palestine, where he coached Maccabi athletes. He was killed by sniper fire in December 1947.