Abraham Tokazier (born 29 September 1909 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, died 7 April 1976 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Meliza's Genealogy
Retrieved 19 September 2013.) was a Finnish sprinter with

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent. His best achievement was second place in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

run at the 1938 Finnish Championships. He is best remembered for winning the 100 metres at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium's opening games, but being demoted to fourth place by the jury. Tokazier's club was

Makkabi Helsinki Makkabi Helsinki is a Finnish Jewish sports club in Helsinki, Finland. It is the oldest Jewish sports club in the world that has an uninterrupted history. It was founded in 1906 with the name “Stjärnan”' (Swedish for ‘the star’). The curr ...

The 1938 scandal race

On 21 June 1938 Tokazier competed in the

at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium's opening games. He crossed the finish line first but the official results placed Tokazier fourth, even though the announcer declared him as the winner right after the race. On the next day a picture taken at the finish line was published in the ''

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

'' newspaper. The picture clearly proves that Tokazier (in dark vest nearest camera) was the first one to cross the line. The reason for demoting Tokazier to fourth place was most likely

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

rather than a mistake made by the jury. An official delegation from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

was among the guests and that was the reason why organizers dropped him out of the

podium A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...

. The scandal became popular again in 2013 as the Finnish author

Kjell Westö Kjell Westö (born 6 August 1961 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish author and journalist. Westö writes in Swedish. Best known for his epic novels set in Helsinki, he has also written short stories, poetry, essays and newspaper columns. Biogr ...

wrote about it on his book ''Hägring 38''. Finally on 18 September 2013 the Finnish Amateur Athletic Association made an apology to the family of Tokazier and admitted that he was the real winner of the 1938 race. The official results cannot be overruled due to the rules of International Association of Athletics Federations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokazier, Abraham 1909 births 1976 deaths Athletes from Helsinki Sportspeople from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) 20th-century Finnish Jews Finnish male sprinters Jewish track and field athletes Antisemitism in Finland