Venne "Verner" Järvinen (3 April 1870 – 31 January 1941) was a Finnish track and field athlete, who competed mostly in throwing events. He won the gold medal in the Greek-style discus in the

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games (), held from 22 April 1906 to 2 May 1906, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Kingdom of Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were re ...

, and the bronze in the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

, becoming the first Finnish Olympic medalist in athletics. He won the Finnish championship in Greek style discus three times in 1909–1911 and held the national record in discus and hammer throw.

Career

Originally one of Finland's leading

wrestlers Wrestling is a Martial arts, martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling ...

, Järvinen switched to

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

with that sport's rising popularity in early 20th century Finland. Järvinen established national records in both

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

and

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

, yet the latter would be the one throwing event in which he never competed at an Olympics.

Intercalated Games

At his first Olympics in Athens 1906 (now no longer officially recognized by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

), Järvinen was a solid medal candidate in multiple events. In the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

he reportedly had the longest efforts (albeit in the absence of defending champion

Ralph Rose Ralph Waldo Rose (March 17, 1885 – October 16, 1913) was an American track and field athlete. He was born in Healdsburg, California. Biography Standing 6 ft 5.5 in (197 cm) and weighing 250 pounds (115 kg), Rose was the fi ...

), but was disqualified for throwing the shot. In the

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

he finished fifth behind four

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, less than a meter behind

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

ist Knut Lindberg. In the discus he finished third, with defending champion

Martin Sheridan Martin John Sheridan (March 28, 1881 – March 27, 1918) was an Irish Americans, Irish-American athlete and three time Olympic Games gold medallist in discus throw. Born in Bohola, County Mayo, Ireland, he was a participant of both the 190 ...

taking the top spot. Finally, on 1 May, Järvinen won the gold medal in the Greek-style discus competition.

Olympic Games

At the

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, Järvinen finished third in the Greek-style discus and fourth in the regular discus. Both competitions were won by Sheridan. Järvinen also competed in the

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 ...

and the

, but without any notable success. Järvinen appeared at the Olympics for one more time in

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

, this time competing only in the discus. At age 42, he finished 15th in the regular discus and 12th in the both hands competition.

National

He won nine medals at the

Finnish Championships in Athletics The Finnish Athletics Championships, which are known as ''Kalevan kisat'' in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year. In the beginning, women were not allowed to compete in t ...

: In discus throw, he is credited with the following Finnish records: * 44.00 metres, in 1901 * 44.30 metres, in Saint Petersburg, on 12 August 1906. Not ratified, because at the time only marks made in Finland counted towards the Finnish record. * 39.68 metres, Helsinki, 1 September 1907 * 44.84 metres, Helsinki, 1 August 1909 In hammer throw, he is credited with the following Finnish record: * 34.83 metres, Helsinki, 2 August 1909

Family

Three of his four sons –

Kalle Kalle is a masculine given name of North Germanic origin, a variation of Karl. In Sweden, people named Karl are commonly nicknamed Kalle. The name is also found in Finland and Estonia. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Kalle A ...

, Aki and Matti – would become noted Olympians in their own right. Kalle Järvinen broke the European record in

with a 1927 mark of 15.17 m, and competed in that event at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

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. Aki Järvinen was a two-time Olympic silver medalist and a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

holder in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

, while Matti was even more successful in the

, winning the Olympic gold in 1932 and breaking the world record no less than ten times. All of the sons were originally coached by their father.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvinen, Verner 1870 births 1941 deaths People from Ruovesi Sportspeople from Häme Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish male discus throwers Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Finland Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes from Pirkanmaa