Väinö Villiam Siikaniemi (27 March 1887 – 24 August 1932) was a Finnish athlete who competed at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

. He finished fifth in the conventional

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

and won the silver medal in the two-handed javelin throw, a one-time Olympic event in which the total was counted as a sum of best throws with the right hand and with the left hand. Siikaniemi retired from sports after the 1912 Games and became a math teacher, poet and translator. In 1923, he published his first poem and in 1929, a collection of poetry. In 1916, he married singer Oili Silventoinen (1888–1932) and later wrote lyrics for songs. He died of pneumonia, aged 45. It was said that he caught a cold during a marathon swim, which he took in an attempt to fight depression caused by the sudden death of his wife two weeks earlier.

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* 1887 births 1932 deaths People from Hollola Finnish male javelin throwers Olympic silver medalists for Finland Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Finland Deaths from pneumonia in Finland Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes from Päijät-Häme {{Finland-Olympic-medalist-stub