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Athlete

Paavo Nurmi

Track and Field Disciplines

Paavo Nurmi was a Finnish middle- and long-distance runner, nicknamed the Flying Finn, who dominated distance running in the 1920s. He won nine Olympic gold medals across the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Games in events ranging from 1,500 meters to cross country, and set numerous world records, becoming one of the first athletes to build a training regimen around precise pace judgment using a stopwatch during races.

Facts
Birth Year
1897 1
Birth Date
1897-06-13 1
Death Year
1973 1
Death Date
1973-10-02 1
Nationality
Finnish 1
Career Highlight
Known as the Flying Finn, he set 22 official world records and won nine gold and three silver Olympic medals across 12 events. 1
Classification
Competition Category
Individual 1
Connections

Plays

Athletics, Sports
In the Other Atlases
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Finland, nationality there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Paavo Nurmi
Wikipedia
  • en.wikipedia.org lead sentence, birth-date clause: "13 June 1897"
    13 June 1897
  • en.wikipedia.org lead sentence, birth-year figure: "13 June 1897"
    13 June 1897
  • en.wikipedia.org lead sentence, death-date clause: "2 October 1973"
    2 October 1973
  • en.wikipedia.org lead sentence, death-year figure: "2 October 1973"
    2 October 1973
  • en.wikipedia.org lead sentence, nationality clause
    was a Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner.
  • en.wikipedia.org lead paragraph, career-highlight sentence
    Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1,500 metres and 20 kilometres, and won nine gold and three silver medals in his 12 events in the Summer Olympic Games.
  • Wikipedia, article summary lead
    Paavo Johannes Nurmi (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈpɑːʋo ˈnurmi] ; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner.
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Frequently Asked Questions

How many Olympic medals and world records did Paavo Nurmi win?

Nine Olympic golds and three silvers in 12 events, plus 22 official world records.

Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1,500 metres and 20 kilometres, and won nine gold and three silver medals in his 12 events in the Summer Olympic Games. The Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner was nicknamed the Flying Finn.

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