Matti Kalervo Sippala (11 March 1908 – 22 August 1997) 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 ...

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

. His main event was the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

, in which he won the silver medal at both the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

and the 1934 European Championships, but he was also a good

pentathlete A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

, breaking the unofficial world record in 1931.

Career

Sippala defeated javelin

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

holder

Matti Järvinen Matti Henrikki Järvinen (18 February 1909 – 22 July 1985) was a Finland, Finnish javelin thrower. He won the Olympic gold medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics ahead of two other Finns, Matti Sippala and Eino Penttilä, with a throw of 72.71 met ...

at the Finnish Olympic tryouts in 1932, throwing 70.02. At the Olympics in

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, however, Järvinen dominated, throwing beyond 70 m five times with a best throw of 72.71. Sippala, who had strained his back in training, threw 68.14 m on his first attempt, 4 cm less than

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Gottfried Weimann Gottfried Weimann (16 September 1907 – 13 March 1990) was a German javelin thrower. He placed fourth at the Olympic Games in 1932 and ninth in 1936. Career Weimann was one of the world's top javelin throwers by 1930, when he threw 66.97& ...

; he failed to improve over the next four rounds, staying in third place until the third Finn,

Eino Penttilä Eino Penttilä (27 August 1906 – 24 November 1982) was a Finnish javelin thrower who won a bronze medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics, behind teammates Matti Järvinen and Matti Sippala. Career Penttlä was a Biathlon competitor who changed ...

, reached 68.70 in round five. In the sixth and final round Sippala threw 69.80 m, moving from fourth to second place as Finland swept the medals. Sippala threw his personal best, 70.54 m, in

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in 1934. At that year's

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

he won another silver medal with 69.97 m, again behind Järvinen who broke his own world record. In addition to the javelin, Sippala competed in

combined events Combined track and field events are competitions in which athletes participate in a number of track and field events, earning points for their performance in each event, which adds to a total points score. Outdoors, the most common combined events ...

. He won silver 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 1930 Finnish championships, but never reached the international elite in that event. In the non-Olympic

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

, however, he won several national titles; at the 1931 Finnish championships he scored 4083 points and defeated Olympic decathlon champion

Paavo Yrjölä Paavo Ilmari Yrjölä (18 June 1902 in Hämeenkyrö – 11 February 1980 in Vilppula), also known as the ''Bear of Hämeenkyrö'' (''Hämeenkyrön karhu''), was a Finnish track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 192 ...

in a close competition as both exceeded Martti Tolamo's unofficial world record of 4011.

References

External links

Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sippala, Matti 1908 births 1997 deaths People from Hollola Finnish male javelin throwers Olympic silver medalists for Finland Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Finland European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Päijät-Häme 20th-century Finnish people