Väinö Villiam Siikaniemi (27 March 1887 – 24 August 1932) was a Finnish athlete who competed at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

. He finished fifth in the conventional

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 ...

and won the silver medal in the two-handed javelin throw, a one-time Olympic event in which the total was counted as a sum of best throws with the right hand and with the left hand. Siikaniemi retired from sports after the 1912 Games and became a math teacher, poet and translator. In 1923 he published his first poem and 1929 a collection of poetry. In 1916 he married singer Oili Silventoinen (1888–1932) and later also wrote lyrics for songs. He died of pneumonia, aged 45. It was said that he caught a cold during a marathon swim, which he took in an attempt to fight depression caused by a sudden death of his wife two weeks earlier.

References

1887 births 1932 deaths People from Hollola Finnish male javelin throwers Olympic silver medalists for Finland Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Finland Deaths from pneumonia in Finland Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Päijät-Häme {{Finland-Olympic-medalist-stub