Veikko Huuskonen (8 February 1910 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

– 3 June 1973) 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 ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. In 1936 he was eliminated in the first round of the bantamweight class after losing his fight to

Alec Hannan Alexander Irvine Hannan (13 February 1916 – 31 March 2002) was a South African boxer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1936 he was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the bantamweight class aft ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. In 1937, Huuskonen won a bronze medal at the

European Amateur Boxing Championships The European Amateur Boxing Championships is the highest competition for boxing amateurs in Europe, organised by the continent's governing body EUBC, which stands for the ''European Boxing Confederation''. The first edition of the tournament to ...

in Milan. He beat a Swiss boxer by knockout, with both contestants being praised for technical and stylish boxing. Losing to eventual gold medalist

Ulderico Sergo Ulderico Sergo (Rijeka, Fiume, 4 July 1913 – Cleveland, 20 February 1967) was a bantamweight professional boxing, boxer from Italy, who won the gold medal at the Boxing at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. He defeate ...

, Huuskonen then won the bronze medal ahead of Antoni Czortek who forfeited. This was the third Finnish medal at the European Championships, after

Kaarlo Väkevä Kaarlo Olavi Väkevä (2 March 1909 – 27 March 1932) was a Finnish boxer who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics. He was born in Jakobstad and died in Aalborg, Denmark. In 1928, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the featherweight ...

and

Gunnar Bärlund Gunnar Richard Bernhard Bärlund (9 January 1911 – 2 August 1982) was a Finnish heavyweight boxer who won the European amateur title in 1934. He competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics, but lost in the first round to the eventual winner Santiago L ...

. He was a five-time Finnish champion: 1936 (53.5 kg), 1937 (54), 1939 (54), 1940 (54) and 1941 (54). Huuskonen also competed in the widely spectated Swedish–Finnish boxing match. His 21st representative match for Finland came in 1939, when he beat Harry Ljushammar. 7,500 people attended the event in Messuhalli. Following the victory, ''

Hufvudstadsbladet ''Hufvudstadsbladet'' (abbr. ''Hbl'') is the highest-circulation Swedish-language newspaper in Finland. Its headquarters is located in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The name of the newspaper translates approximately into "Journal of the Capi ...

'' commented that Huuskonen should have been considered for the

1939 European Amateur Boxing Championships The 1939 European Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Dublin, Ireland from 18 to 22 April. It was the sixth edition of the bi-annual competition was organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, EABA. There were 71 fighters ...

References

External links

* * 1910 births 1973 deaths Boxers from Helsinki Sportspeople from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Bantamweight boxers Olympic boxers for Finland Boxers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Finnish male boxers {{Finland-boxing-bio-stub