Johannes Leopold Villemson (25 March 1893 – 22 March 1971) was an Estonian runner who competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics. He was eliminated in the first round of the 800 m and

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

events. At school Villemson focused on accounting and foreign languages. He started as a speed skater in 1909, but later changed to running and won three consecutive Russian 1500 m titles in 1914–16, placing second-third over 400 m and 800 m and setting multiple Russian records in 800–1500 m events. Later between 1917 and 1930 he won more than 20 Estonian titles over 100–1500 m distances. He was representative for the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...

and 1936 Estonian Olympic teams and served as a

wrestling 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 ...

judge at these games. Between 1920 and 1940 he also took various administrative posts in Estonian athletics and wrestling bodies. In 1944, following the

Soviet occupation of Estonia The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...

, he fled to Germany and then to the United States, arriving there in 1949. He worked in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

as a controller at an electrical appliances factory, and for many years headed the Estonian Society.

References

1893 births 1971 deaths Athletes from Tallinn People from the Governorate of Estonia Estonian male sprinters Estonian male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Estonia Estonian referees and umpires Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Estonian World War II refugees {{Estonia-athletics-bio-stub