Viktor "Väinö" Muinonen (30 December 1898, in

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the Lappeenranta sub-r ...

– 10 June 1978) was a Finnish long-distance runner, who competed for his native country at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

. Born in

Imatra Imatra is a city in Finland, located in the southeastern interior of the country. Imatra is located in the region of South Karelia, on Saima, Lake Saimaa and the River Vuoksi. The population of Imatra is approximately , while the Imatra sub-regi ...

, Muinonen is best known for winning the gold medal in the men's marathon at the 1938 European Championships in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He set his personal best of 2:33:03 in 1946, at the age of 47.

References

sports-reference
1898 births 1978 deaths Sportspeople from Lappeenranta Athletes from South Karelia Sportspeople from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Finland European Athletics Championships medalists {{Finland-athletics-bio-stub