Veikko Johannes Hakulinen (4 January 1925 – 24 October 2003) 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 ...

cross-country skier, triple champion in both the Olympics and World Championships. He also competed in

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...

, orienteering, ski-orienteering, cross-country running, and rowing at a national level.

Biography

Hakulinen won the 50 km event at the 1952 Winter Olympics with a memorable time of 3:33.33. Finland also won the 4 × 10 km relay, but Hakulinen was not on the team. Hakulinen was part of the Finland's winning

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

team in the 1960 Winter Olympics, and won the 30 km gold in the 1956 Olympics. At his fourth games in 1964 he served as the Finnish Olympic flag bearer and competed only in biathlon. In

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, Hakulinen was chosen as sports personality of the year in 1952–1954 and 1960. He was decorated with the Pro Urheilu letter of recognition 2000. Hakulinen also won the 50 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival twice (1953 and 1955), the 18 km (1953) and the 15 km (1957). For his efforts in cross-country skiing, Hakulinen was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1955 (shared with

King Haakon VII Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick VI ...

Hallgeir Brenden Hallgeir Brenden (10 February 1929 – 21 September 2007) was a Norwegian cross-country skier and steeplechase runner. He competed in various skiing events at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Winter Olympics and won two individual gold medals in 1952 and ...

, and Sverre Stenersen). Hakulinen was a

forester A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to ...

by profession and held the rank of sergeant in the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraf ...

. He died in

Valkeakoski Valkeakoski (; lit. "white rapids") is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located south of Tampere, north of Hämeenlinna and north of Helsinki in the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of wh ...

in a car accident on 24 October 2003.Veikko Hakulinen Dies in Road Accident
", ''

Finnish Olympic Committee The Finnish Olympic Committee ( fi, Suomen Olympiakomitea ry; sv, Finlands Olympiska Kommitté rf) is the national Olympic committee in Finland for the Olympic Games movement. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams, and raises funds ...

'', 28 October 2003

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

* 7 medals – (3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)

World Championships

* 7 medals – (3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)

Biathlon results

* World championships, Seefeld 1963 – silver (team competition), sixth (20 km) * Olympics, Innsbruck 1964 – 15th (20 km) * World championships, Elverum 1965 – fifth (team competition), 31st (20 km)

Bibliography

* Hakulinen, Veikko. ''Haku-Veikko, suurhiihtäjä Veikko Hakulisen muistelmat'' 1999 (an autobiography) * Kolkka, Sulo. ''Veikko Hakulinen, latujen valtias'' 1960 (biography)

References

External links

* * – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file * – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file * *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hakulinen, Veikko 1925 births 2003 deaths People from Lakhdenpokhsky District Olympic cross-country skiers of Finland Olympic biathletes of Finland Cross-country skiers at the 1952 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 1964 Winter Olympics Finnish male biathletes Finnish male cross-country skiers Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Olympic gold medalists for Finland Road incident deaths in Finland Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing Biathlon World Championships medalists FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Medalists at the 1952 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Winter Olympics Finnish foresters Olympic silver medalists for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland