Pekka Johannes Päivärinta (born 4 May 1949 in Aura) is a Finnish former long-distance runner. He won men's senior race in the first World Championships of cross-country running in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. He competed in 1972 Olympics at 3000-meter steeplechase finishing 8th. In 1976 Olympics he competed in 5000 meters and finished 13th. In 1975, he broke world record in 25000 meters running by his result 1:14:16,8. The record was broken by Bill Rodgers in 1979. Contrary to his fellow Finnish long-distance runner — and age mate — Lasse Virén, Päivärinta underachieved in the major outdoor international championships of his active running career. On the other hand, he defeated Virén several times in the local and national Finnish races. One apparent obstacle to his success in the major international championships was that he ran badly in hot and humid conditions. This would partly explain his nineteenth place at 10,000 metres and thirteenth place at 5,000 metres in the 1974 European Athletics Championships, and his dropping out of the 10,000-metre heats in the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics.

Personal bests

*800 m **Outdoor 1:52.5 ( Salo 23.7. 1978) *1 500 m **Outdoor 3:37.2 (

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

28.6. 1973), **Indoor 3:52.3 (

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

27.2. 1972) *Mile **Outdoor 4:05.2 (

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

2.9. 1975) *2 000 m **Outdoor 5:11.0 ( Laitila 2.8. 1974) *3 000 m **Outdoor 7:57.2 (

Hyvinkää Hyvinkää (; , ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Hyvinkää is situated in the northern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Hyvinkää is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in ...

27.7. 1975), **Indoor 7:52.97 (

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

11.3. 1973) *5 000 m **Outdoor 13:28.51 (

16.9. 1973), **Indoor 13:49.0 (

22.2. 1975) *10 000 m **Outdoor 27:54.43 (

23.6. 1976) *25 000 m **Outdoor 1:14:16.8 (WR) (

15.5. 1975) *Marathon **2:13:09.0 (

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

8.12. 1974) *2 000 m steeplechase **5:46.8 (

Mariehamn Mariehamn ( , ; ; ) is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. It is mostly surrounded b ...

9.8. 1969) *3 000 m steeplechase **8:25.4 (

26.7. 1972)

References

External links

* *http://www.tilastopaja.org/db/fi/atm.php?ID=8846 {{DEFAULTSORT:Paivarinta, Pekka 1949 births Living people People from Aura, Finland Finnish male long-distance runners Finnish male marathon runners Finnish male steeplechase runners Olympic athletes for Finland Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics World record setters in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Cross Country Championships winners Athletes from Southwest Finland Finnish Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Finnish sportsmen