Olavi Salsola (

Keuruu Keuruu (; sv, Keuru) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The popul ...

, 26 December 1933 - Rauma, 8 October 1995) 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 ...

male

middle distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

Biography

In a fantastic evening of 1957, in the

city of

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

, there was an extraordinary event (but also a strange coincidence), for the sport of

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

. Three Finnish athletes have gone under the previous world record of

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

, all three were called by first name

Olavi Olavi is a Finnish masculine given name from Olav/Olaf name. Notable people with the name include: *Olavi Ahonen (1923–2000), Finnish film actor * Olavi Alakulppi (1915–1990), Finnish cross country skier who competed in the 1930s *Olavi Hän ...

and all three were born in 1933. For this reason, the three athletes are today remembered as '' "the three Olavis"''.

World record

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

: 3:40.2 -

, 11 July 1957

Olympic results

References

External links

*
Athlete profile
from site ''Track and Field Statistics'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Salsola, Olavi 1933 births 1995 deaths World record setters in athletics (track and field) Finnish male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Finland Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics People from Keuruu Sportspeople from Central Finland