Finland at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Finland at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Flag of Russia, which flew over the Grand Duchy of Finland
IOC code	FIN
NOC	Finnish Olympic Committee
Website	sport.fi/olympiakomitea (Finnish) (Swedish)
in London
Competitors	67
Medals Ranked 13th	Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 1 3 5
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Finland competed at the Summer Olympic Games for the first time at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The Grand Duchy of Finland was part of the Russian Empire at the time, but Finland's results are kept separate from those of Russia.

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
Gold	Weckman, VernerVerner Weckman	Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman Light-Heavyweight (93 kg)
Silver	Saarela, YrjöYrjö Saarela	Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman Light-Heavyweight (93 kg)
Bronze	Forsström, EinoEino Forsström Otto Granström Johan Kemp Jivari Kyykoski Heikki Lehmusto John Lindroth Yrjö Linko Edvard Linna Matti Markkanen Kaarlo Kustaa Paasia Arvi Pohjanpää Aarne Pohjonen Eino Railio Heikki Riipinen Arno Saarinen Einari Verner Sahlstein Arne Salovaara Kaarlo Sandelin Elias Sipilä Viktor Smeds Kaarlo Soinio Kurt Enoch Stenberg Väinö Tiiri Magnus Wegelius	Gymnastics	Men's Team All-Around
Bronze	Jarvinen, VernerVerner Jarvinen	Athletics	Men's Discus
Bronze	Linden, ArvoArvo Linden	Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman Lightweight (66.6 kg)

Results by event

Athletics

Finland's best athletics result was Verner Järvinen's bronze medal in the Greek-style discus throw.

Event	Place	Athlete	Heats	Semifinals	Final
Men's 100 metres	Heats	Ragnar Stenberg	Unknown 5th, heat 7	Did not advance
Men's 200 metres	Heats	Ragnar Stenberg	Unknown 3rd, heat 4	Did not advance
Men's 800 metres	Semi- finalist	Fredrik Svanstrom	None held	Unknown 5th, heat 7	Did not advance
Men's 1500 metres	Semi- finalist	Fredrik Svanstrom	None held	Unknown 3rd, heat 5	Did not advance
Men's marathon	10th	Kalle Nieminen	None held		3:09:50.8

Event	Place	Athlete	Height/ Distance
Men's high jump	16th	Lauri Pihkala	1.67 metres
	—	Lauri Wilskman	No mark
Men's triple jump	18-20	Juho Halme	Unknown
Men's standing long jump	8-25	Jarl Jakobsson	Unknown
Men's shot put	7th	Jalmari Sauli	12.58 metres
	9-25	Juho Halme	Unknown
		Verner Järvinen	Unknown
		Elmer Niklander	Unknown
		Bruno Zilliacus	Unknown
Men's discus throw	4th	Verner Järvinen	39.43 metres
	12-42	Elmer Niklander	Unknown
		Lauri Pihkala	Unknown
		Aarne Salovaara	Unknown
		Jalmari Sauli	Unknown
		Lauri Wilskman	Unknown
Men's javelin throw	4th	Aarne Salovaara	45.89 metres
	5th	Armas Pesonen	45.18 metres
	6th	Juho Halme	44.96 metres
	7th	Jalmari Sauli	Unknown
	8-16	Evert Jakobsson	Unknown
		Jarl Jakobsson	Unknown
Men's Greek discus	3rd	Verner Järvinen	36.48 metres
	9th	Elmer Niklander	32.46 metres
Men's freestyle javelin	6th	Armas Pesonen	46.04 metres
	8th	Jalmari Sauli	43.30 metres
	9th	Juho Halme	39.88 metres
	10-33	Evert Jakobsson	Unknown
		Jarl Jakobsson	Unknown
		Verner Järvinen	Unknown
		Johan Kemp	Unknown
		Aarne Salovaara	Unknown

Diving

Event	Place	Diver	Preliminary groups	Semi- finals	Final
Men's 10 metre platform	6th	Toivo Aro	69.50 points 2nd, group 5	62.70 points 3rd, group 1	Did not advance
	13th	Oscar Wetzell	69.70 points 4th, group 1	Did not advance
Men's 3 metre springboard	11th	Oscar Wetzell	70.83 points 2nd, group 3	70.10 6th, semifinal 1	Did not advance

Gymnastics

Event	Place	Gymnast	Score
Men's all-around	75th	Riku Korhonen	Unknown
	Unknown	Eetu Kosonen	Unknown
		Iivari Partanen	Unknown
		Jaska Saarivuori	Unknown
		David Teivonen	Unknown

Event	Place	Gymnast	Score
Men's team	3rd	Eino Forsström, Otto Granström, Johan Kemp, Jivari Kyykoski, Heikki Lehmusto, John Lindroth, Yrjö Linko, Edvard Linna, Matti Markkanen, Kaarlo Mikkolainen, Veli Nieminen, Kaarlo Kustaa Paasia, Arvi Pohjanpää, Aarne Pohjonen, Eino Railio, Heikki Riipinen, Arno Saarinen, Einari Verner Sahlstein, Arne Salovaara, Kaarlo Sandelin, Elias Sipilä, Viktor Smeds, Kaarlo Soinio, Kurt Enoch Stenberg, Väinö Tiiri, Magnus Wegelius	405

Shooting

Event	Place	Shooter	Score
Men's 300 metre free rifle	17th	Voitto Kolho	788
	30th	Frans Nässling	733
	37th	Huvi Tuiskinen	697
	38th	Heikki Huttunen	686
	39th	Lauri Kolho	672
	41st	Emil Nässling	657
	44th	Gustav Nyman	615
	45th	Karl Reilin	584
	46th	Heikki Hallamaa	576
Men's team free rifle	8th	Frans Nässling Gustav Nyman Heikki Huttunen Voitto Kolho Emil Nässling Huvi Tuiskinen	3962

Swimming

Event	Place	Swimmer	Heats	Semifinals	Final
Men's 100 metre backstroke	Heats	Hugo Jonsson	Unknown 3rd, heat 1	Did not advance
		John Henrikssen	Unknown 3rd, heat 2
Men's 200 metre breaststroke	Heats	John Henrikssen	Unknown 3rd, heat 5	Did not advance
		Herman Cederberg	Unknown 4-5, heat 2
	—	Hugo Jonsson	Did not finish —, heat 6

Wrestling

Finland was one of the most successful wrestling nations in 1908, with three of the four Finnish wrestlers medalling. The four amassed an 85% victory rate against opponents from other nations.

Event	Place	Wrestler	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarter- finals	Semi- finals	Final
Greco-Roman lightweight	3rd	Arvo Lindén	Defeated Hansen	Defeated Carlsen	Defeated Møller	Lost to Orlov	Defeated Persson
Greco-Roman light heavyweight	1st	Verner Weckman	Bye	Defeated West	Defeated Larsson	Defeated Payr	Defeated Saarela
	2nd	Yrjö Saarela	Defeated Nielsen	Defeated Nixson	Defeated Dubois	Defeated Jensen	Lost to Weckman
	9th	Jussi Kivimäki	Bye	Lost to Westrop	Did not advance

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Belgium	2	0	1.000
Denmark	4	0	1.000
Great Britain	2	0	1.000
Hungary	1	0	1.000
Netherlands	0	1	.000
Russia	0	1	.000
Sweden	2	0	1.000
Total international	11	2	.846
Finland	1	1	.500
Total	12	3	.800

Sources

• Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
• De Wael, Herman (2001). "Top London 1908 Olympians". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 9 June 2006.