Venne "Verner" Järvinen (3 April 1870 – 31 January 1941) was a Finnish track and field athlete, who competed mostly in throwing events. He won the gold medal in the Greek-style discus in the

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games i ...

, and the bronze in the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

, becoming the first Finnish Olympic medalist in athletics. He won the Finnish championship in Greek style discus three times in 1909–1911 and held the national record in discus and hammer throw.

Career

Originally one of Finland's leading

wrestlers Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spo ...

, Järvinen switched to

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), competi ...

with that sport's rising popularity in early 20th century Finland. Järvinen established national records in both

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

and

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...

, yet the latter would be the one throwing event in which he never competed at an Olympics.

Intercalated Games

At his first Olympics in Athens 1906 (now no longer officially recognized by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

), Järvinen was a solid medal candidate in multiple events. In the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

he reportedly had the longest efforts (albeit in the absence of defending champion

Ralph Rose Ralph Waldo Rose (March 17, 1885 – October 16, 1913) was an American track and field athlete. He was born in Healdsburg, California. Biography Standing 6 ft 5.5 in (197 cm) and weighing 250 pounds (115 kg), Rose was the first shot putter ...

), but was disqualified for throwing the shot. In the

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

he finished fifth behind four

Swedes Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...

, less than a meter behind

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

ist

Knut Lindberg Knut Andreas "Knatten" Lindberg (2 February 1882 – 6 April 1961) was a Swedish athlete who competed at the 1906 Intercalated Games and the 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics. He had his best results in 1906, when he won a silver medal in javeli ...

. In the discus he finished third, with defending champion

Martin Sheridan Martin John Sheridan (March 28, 1881 – March 27, 1918) was a three time Olympic Games gold medallist. He was born in Bohola, County Mayo, Ireland, and died in St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, New York, the day before his 37th birthday ...

taking the top spot. Finally, on 1 May, Järvinen won the gold medal in the Greek-style discus competition.

Olympic Games

At the

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, Järvinen finished third in the Greek-style discus and fourth in the regular discus. Both competitions were won by Sheridan. Järvinen also competed in the

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 f ...

and the

, but without any notable success. Järvinen appeared at the Olympics for one more time in

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

, this time competing only in the discus. At age 42, he finished 15th in the regular discus and 12th in the both hands competition.

National

He won nine medals at the

Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Athletics Championships, which are known as ''Kalevan kisat'' in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year. In the beginning, women were not allowed to compete in th ...

: In discus throw, he is credited with the following Finnish records: * 44.00 metres, in 1901 * 44.30 metres, in Saint Petersburg, on 12 August 1906. Not ratified, because at the time only marks made in Finland counted towards the Finnish record. * 39.68 metres, Helsinki, 1 September 1907 * 44.84 metres, Helsinki, 1 August 1909 In hammer throw, he is credited with the following Finnish record: * 34.83 metres, Helsinki, 2 August 1909

Family

Three of his four sons –

Kalle Kalle is a masculine given name of North Germanic origin, a variation of Karl. In Sweden, people named Karl are commonly nicknamed Kalle. The name is also found in Finland and Estonia Notable people with the name include: Given name * Kalle An ...

, Aki and Matti – would become noted Olympians in their own right. Kalle Järvinen broke the European record in

with a 1927 mark of 15.17 m, and competed in that event at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Aki Järvinen was a two-time Olympic silver medalist and a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

holder in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

, while Matti was even more successful in the

, winning the Olympic gold in 1932 and breaking the world record no less than ten times. All of the sons were originally coached by their father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvinen, Verner 1870 births 1941 deaths People from Ruovesi People from Häme Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish male discus throwers Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Finland Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Pirkanmaa