Erik Johannes "Åsa" Åström (23 February 1902 – 25 April 1971) was a Finnish sprinter. He set

Finnish records 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 ...

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

and

400 m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

and competed in the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

Career

Åström first became Finnish champion at 200 m in 1921; his time 22.1 was better than the national record, but was not accepted due to a suspect start. At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris Åström represented Finland in both the 400 m individual race and the

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smalles ...

; he qualified from the heats in the individual race, but did not take part in the second round. During the mid-1920s he was Finland's best at both 200 m and 400 m; he won both events at the inaugural Finland-Sweden Athletics International, held in Helsinki in September 1925. At the longer distance he defeated Sweden's Olympic medalists Erik Byléhn and

Nils Engdahl Nils Engdahl (4 November 1898 – 10 September 1983) was a Swedish runner who competed at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics in six 100–800 m events in total. He had his best achievements in the 4 × 400 m relay, in which his teams finished fif ...

, and his time of 49.0 equalled

Erik Wilén Erik Wilhelm "Erkka" Wilén (15 July 1898 – 23 July 1982) was a Finnish sprinter. He competed at the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX O ...

's Finnish record. The same year, he first equalled Lauri Härö's Finnish 200 m record of 22.2 and then improved it to 22.1 in Stockholm, this time legitimately. Åström won the 400 m again at the second Finland-Sweden meet in 1927.

References

1902 births 1971 deaths Athletes from Helsinki Finnish male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Finland 20th-century Finnish people {{Finland-athletics-bio-stub