Kurt Oskar "Kurre" Wires (28 April 1919 – 22 February 1992) 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 ...

sprint canoer who competed in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. In 1948 he won a silver medal in the individual 10000 m event. Four years later he earned two gold medals in the 1000 m and 10000 m doubles, together with

Yrjö Hietanen Yrjö Jalmari "Yka" Hietanen (12 July 1927 – 26 March 2011) was a Finnish sprint canoer who competed at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics. In 1952 he won two gold medals with Kurt Wires Kurt Oskar "Kurre" Wires (28 April 1919 – 22 February 199 ...

.Kurt Wires
Sports Reference.com

Personal life

Wires served in the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army (Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft ...

during the

Second World War 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 ...

and lost his right eye during the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

References

1919 births 1992 deaths Sportspeople from Helsinki Swedish-speaking Finns Canoeists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Finnish male canoeists Olympic canoeists of Finland Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic silver medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in canoeing {{Finland-canoe-bio-stub Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Finnish military personnel of World War II Finnish disabled sportspeople