Heikki Olavi Suomalainen (born 27 March 1947 in

Sääminki Sääminki (; sv, Säminge) is countryside and List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality of Finland. Most of Sääminki municipality was incorporated in 1973 with the Savonlinna town and the rest with Punkaharju municipality. ...

) is 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 ...

former

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

runner. He won the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

in 1972 by an 18-second margin over Víctor Mora. In 1973 he finished third at the same race. During his career, Olavi Suomalainen sustained injuries and failed to qualify for the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

European Championships in Athletics The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

. He took the bronze medal at the Finnish Championship Marathon in the Olympic years 1972 and 1976. However, in 1976 gold medalist Håkan Spik, silver medalist

Jukka Toivola Jukka Olavi Toivola (7 September 1949 – 27 May 2011) was a male long-distance runner and teacher of chemistry from Finland. Born in Liperi, North Karelia, Toivola represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics Events Janu ...

, and

Lasse Virén Lasse Artturi Virén (born 22 July 1949) is a Finnish former long-distance runner, winner of four gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics. Virén recaptured the image of the "Flying Finns" promoted by runners like Hannes Kolehmainen, Paa ...

were nominated to the

Olympic Marathon The marathon at the Summer Olympics is the only road running event held at the multi-sport event. The men's marathon has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. Nearly ninety years later, the women's event was added to the prog ...

. Suomalainens winning time 2:15:39 at the 1972's

remained his personal best. Olavi Suomalainen has a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Achievements

References

External links

Report from the Boston Marathon 1972
by

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

Tilastopaja profile for Olavi Suomalainen (in Finnish)

1947 births Living people People from Savonlinna Finnish male long-distance runners Finnish male marathon runners Boston Marathon male winners Sportspeople from South Savo {{Finland-athletics-bio-stub