Akilles "Aki" Eero Johannes Järvinen (19 September 1905 – 7 March 1943) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

decathlete The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ ...

. He competed at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics and won two silver medals, in 1928 and 1932; he served as the Finnish flag bearer at all three games. He also won a European silver medal in the 400 m hurdles in 1934. Järvinen was one of Finland's most versatile athletes of his era. At the national level, his decathlon records are still competitive, and if the current decathlon points tables had been used, Järvinen would have won the gold medal at the 1928 and 1932 Olympics. Järvinen died in 1943 when his

VL Pyry VL Pyry (Finnish language for ''blizzard'') was a Finnish low-winged, two-seated fighter trainer aircraft, built by the State Aircraft Factory (''Valtion lentokonetehdas'') for use with the Finnish Air Force. The Pyry was in use from 1939 to 1962 ...

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...

crashed during a test flight. His younger brother Matti was an Olympic champion and 10-time world-record breaker in

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

. His elder brother

Kalle Kalle is a masculine given name of North Germanic origin, a variation of Karl. In Sweden, people named Karl are commonly nicknamed Kalle. The name is also found in Finland and Estonia Notable people with the name include: Given name *Kalle Ant ...

was an Olympic

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

ter, whereas their father Verner won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

. He was killed during a test flight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Personal records

* 100 m – 10.9 s (1934)Akilles Järvinen
. yleisurheilu.fi * 200 m – 21.9 s (1930)Akilles Järvinen
trackfield.brinkster.net * 400 m – 49.1 s (1931) * 1500 m – 4:42.0 s (1928) * 110 m hurdles – 15.2 s (1930) * 200 m hurdles – 25.4 s (1936) * 400 m hurdles – 53.7 s (1934) * High jump – 180 cm (1925) * Pole vault – 360 cm (1930) * Long jump – 7.12 m (1930) * Triple jump – 14.34 m (1926) * Shot put – 14.10 m (1936) * Discus – 37.94 m (1931) * Javelin – 63.25 m (1933) * Decathlon – 8292 (1932, using 1912 scoring tables)

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(Article contains picture of Järvinen with the other two decathlon medalists in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.) 1905 births 1943 deaths Sportspeople from Jyväskylä People from Vaasa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish decathletes Olympic athletes for Finland Olympic silver medalists for Finland Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Finnish military personnel killed in World War II 20th-century Finnish people {{Finland-athletics-bio-stub