Kalevi Ensio Suoniemi (14 July 1931 – 17 June 2010) 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 ...

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

. He competed at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

in all artistic gymnastics events and won a team bronze medal. His best individual result was ninth place on the

pommel horse The pommel horse is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and ...

. Suoniemi won an individual bronze medal on the rings at the 1957 European Championships. Suoniemi was born two months early because his mother had a bad fall while cleaning the floor. He survived owing to the help from his grandmother, who was a nurse and was nearby. He took up gymnastics in 1946 and had his first international competition in 1950. He married in 1953, and had a son Ari born in 1954 and a daughter Sirpa born in 1958. He retired from competitions in the early 1960s and in 1964–68 worked as a gymnastics coach. His trainees included

Hannu Rantakari Hannu Juhani "Hanski" Rantakari (8 January 1939 – 1 January 2018) was a Finnish gymnast. He competed at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics in all artistic gymnastics events and won a bronze medal in the vault in 1964. His best individual result i ...

, who won an individual Olympic bronze medal in 1964. Later he worked in construction of electrical facilities. He was also active in local politics and took various posts at the Tampere City Council in 1960–1972 and 2000–2004.Kalevi Suoniemi and Marko Veserbacka (2007
''NIKRU Telinetaiturin muistelmat''
pp. 470–476.

References

External links

* * 1931 births 2010 deaths Finnish male artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts of Finland Gymnasts at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts from Tampere Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics 20th-century Finnish people {{Finland-artistic-gymnastics-bio-stub