Eeles Enok Landström (3 January 1932 – 29 June 2022) was a Finnish

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er, a member of the

Finnish parliament The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

, and a business executive. He won two European titles, in 1954 and 1958, and competed at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics, winning a bronze medal in 1960 and finishing seventh in 1956. Landström also placed 14th in the

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

at the 1952 games and was selected as the Olympic flag bearer for Finland in 1956 and 1960.

Biography

Landström was born in

Viiala Viiala is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2007, it was consolidated with Toijala to form the town of Akaa. Viiala is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality had a populatio ...

on 3 January 1932. Landström studied in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and graduated as

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in 1959. He was a two-time

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

champion in pole vaulting while at Michigan, in 1956 and 1959. In 1961 he became the first Finnish participant at the Olympic Academy arranged by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Landström was a member of the

from 1966 to 1971 and worked also in executive positions, for example as Assistant Director of Finance in the

Finnish Broadcasting Company Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

in 1976–1981 and as a member of the Administrative Council of the Finnish Broadcasting Company in 1967 to 1976. He was granted the Finnish honorary title of sosiaalineuvos in 2008. Landström participated in the International

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an inter-parliamentary institution, international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and coop ...

(IPU) as a board member of Finland’s group and as a representative of Finland in the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

, nominated by the Finnish Broadcasting Company. Landström has written two youth novels (1966, 1974) and a biography (2002). His first novel was awarded as the best Finnish youth novel in 1966. Landström died on 29 June 2022 at the age of 90.

Achievements in pole vaulting

Landström participated in 30 international competitions, winning 25 of them in a row. His best achievements were European gold medals in 1954 and 1958, the only medals Finland won in these competitions. He also won eight consecutive Finnish titles in 1953–1960 and improved the Finnish record 13 times in 1954–1958. He improved the European record three times in 1955–1956 and set an Australian record in 1956. In 1961, he won the Nordic Championship. In 2008 Landström received the Finnish Pro Urheilu award for his athletic achievements.

Television and theater

A television documentary was made on Landström and his life in 1997, directed by

Ville-Veikko Salminen Ville-Veikko Salminen (23 August 1937, Turku - 16 January 2006) was a Finnish film, television, stage actor and director. He was one of the founders of the acting companies for both Yleisradio and Mainostelevisio. He is best remembered for his ...

. He was also the center figure in a play, which was written and directed by Jorma Kairimo. The premiere of the play ”Eeles – kohti päämäärää” (Eeles – towards the goal) took place in Akaa, Finland, in September 2008.

References

External links

Chris Turner: HISTORY OF FINNISH ATHLETICS

Finnish Olympic Committee: Statistics by Games
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Landstrom, Eeles 1932 births 2022 deaths People from Viiala Members of the Parliament of Finland (1966–70) Finnish male pole vaulters Michigan Wolverines men's track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Pesäpallo players European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Finnish sportsperson-politicians Finnish business executives 20th-century Finnish businesspeople