Veli Veikko Valtteri Lehtelä (6 September 1935 – 3 June 2020) was a Finnish

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

. He competed in various two-man and four man events at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won two bronze medals, in 1956 and 1960. His son Jorma Lehtelä also became an Olympic rower. Throughout most of his career Lehtelä rowed with Toimi Pitkänen. Besides two Olympic bronze medals, they won two gold and two silver medals at the

European championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

from 1955 to 1961, and placed sixth at the 1964 Olympics.

References

1935 births 2020 deaths Finnish male rowers Olympic rowers for Finland Rowers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics European Rowing Championships medalists Sportspeople from Valkeakoski 20th-century Finnish sportsmen {{Finland-rowing-bio-stub