Paavo Johannes Aaltonen (11 December 1919 – 9 September 1962) 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 ...

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

and a three-time Olympic champion. At the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

, he won four medals, of which three were gold, including a three-way tie for gold in 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 Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and ...

with teammates Veikko Huhtanen and Heikki Savolainen. He also competed at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

winning a team bronze for a total of five Olympic medals during his career. At the 1950 World Championships, he won the gold medal on the

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syste ...

and the team silver medal.

References

1919 births 1962 deaths People from Kemi Finnish male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1948 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts of Finland Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Lapland (Finland) 20th-century Finnish people {{Finland-artistic-gymnastics-bio-stub