Rauno Leonard Mäkinen (22 January 1931 – 9 September 2010) was a Finnish featherweight wrestler. He started as a freestyle wrestler, winning four consecutive national titles in 1952–55 and finishing sixth at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

. He then changed to

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), or classic wrestling (Euro-English) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been i ...

and won a national title and an Olympic gold medal in 1956. His further career was hampered by injuries. In 1960 he won one more national title, but withdrew from the 1960 Olympics after two bouts and retired from competitions. Mäkinen followed his father Väinö, who competed internationally in freestyle wrestling and founded the Tampereen Paini-Miehet wrestling club. Besides wrestling Mäkinen played

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

at the national level for

Ilves-Kissat Tampereen-Viipurin Ilves-Kissat is a Finnish football club from Tampere. As of 2017 are playing in the Kolmonen league. They play their home matches in the Tammela Stadion, Tammelan Stadion, which was opened in 1931. History The name of the c ...

. Originally a construction engineer, after retiring from competitions he became a policeman and worked in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...

and

Vaajakoski Vaajakoski is a district of Jyväskylä, Finland and the centre of Vaajakoski-Jyskä ward. It is located seven kilometres from the city centre on the Northern end of lake Päijänne, where it is bordered by Jyskä to the west, Sulunperä and Kau ...

until retiring in 1974 due to an illness. He remained involved in wrestling as a referee, and in this function attended the 1962 and 1965 World Championships and 1968 Olympic Games. While living in Tampere, he also coached young wrestlers and football players and headed the Tampereen Paini-Miehet club. In 1950 Mäkinen married Raili Kymäläisen. They had five children: Arja (b. 1951), Pirjo (b. 1952), Reijo (b. 1954), Marjo (b. 1960) and Merja (b. 1961).

References

External links

* 1931 births 2010 deaths Olympic wrestlers for Finland Wrestlers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Finnish male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Finnish wrestling coaches Sportspeople from Pori Tampereen-Viipurin Ilves-Kissat players 20th-century Finnish sportsmen {{Finland-wrestling-bio-stub