Armas Ilmari Valste (born Wahlstedt, 7 August 1905 – 16 March 1991) was a Finnish athlete and a prominent coach and sports administrator. He competed at the 1928 Olympics in the high jump, shot put and decathlon with the best achievement of fifth place in the shot put. From 1935 to 1960 he was the head coach of the national athletics team and from 1970 to 1980 a board member of the

European Athletics Association The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...

. He was the Secretary General of the

1971 European Athletics Championships The 10th (X) European Athletics Championships were held from 10 August to 15 August 1971 in the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Men's results ...

held in Helsinki, Finland.

Biography

Valste won his first athletics competitions in 1922 and later set two national records in the high jump (188.5 and 190 cm) and one in the shot put (15.66 m). From 1925 to 1932 he won ten national titles in these two events. Valste retired from competitions in early 1930s. From 1930 to 1935 he was a coach and from 1935 to 1960 the head coach of the Finnish athletics team, preparing it to the 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics, as well as other international competitions in between. He then moved to administrative positions and was the Secretary General of the

held in Helsinki. He retired the same year for health reasons, but remained active in sports and from 1970 to 1980 was a board member of the

.Martiskainen, pp. 96–98 In recognition to his contribution to athletics he was awarded the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. ...

in 1964 and the IAAF Veteran Pin in 1976. He remains an honorary member of EAA. The sports club ''Armas Valste Yleisurheiluklubi'' was established in his honor after his death. Valste was a radio engineer by profession and an amateur radio station operator. From 1927 to 1929 he worked as a professional broadcaster. In 1960 he became an honorary member and in 1985 the honorary chairman of the Finnish Amateur Radio League.

References

Bibliography

*Martiskainen, Seppo (2006) ''Nuorten yleisurheilu, Nuorten kilpailutoiminta'', Suomi voittoon – kansa liikkumaan, Helsinki: SUL Julkaisut Oy/Yleisurheilun Tukisäätiö, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Valste, Armas 1905 births 1991 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Finland Finnish male high jumpers Finnish male shot putters Finnish decathletes Amateur radio people Sportspeople from Turku