Väinö Jeremias Sipilä (24 December 1897 – 12 September 1987) was a Finnish

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

. Sipilä competed in the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

, placing fourth in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

and being part of Finland's winning cross-country team in the 1924 Games. He held world records at the unusual distances of 20,000 metres and 30,000 metres for several years.

Career

Sipilä was Finnish cross country champion in 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1929. At the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

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Sipilä first placed fourth in the

10,000 m The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

race (behind

Ville Ritola Vilho "Ville" Eino Ritola (18 January 1896 – 24 April 1982) was a Finnish long-distance runner. Known as one of the " Flying Finns", he won five Olympic gold medals and three Olympic silver medals in the 1920s. He holds the record of winning ...

Edvin Wide Emil Edvin Wide (22 February 1896 – 19 June 1996) was a Swedish middle-distance and long-distance runner. Biography Born in Finland as Emil Edvin Hermansson, Wide moved to Sweden in 1918. He competed for Sweden at the 1920 Summer Olympics in ...

and Eero Berg) and then took part in the 10.65 km cross-country race, which doubled as an

individual An individual is one that exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of living as an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) as a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or g ...

and

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

competition. In the extremely hot and demanding conditions, more than half of the participants failed to finish, including Sipilä and two other members of the Finnish team, Berg and Eino Rastas; Finland only barely got a valid team result, even though its stars

Paavo Nurmi Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finland, Finnish middle-distance running, middle-distance and long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" because he dominated distance running in th ...

and Ritola placed a clear first and second. Sipilä was in fourth place in the 6.2 km intermediate standings, ahead of eventual individual bronze medalist Earl Johnson of the United States, but had to drop out shortly after that point. In 1925 Sipilä broke the

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 ...

at the unusual distance of 20,000 metres, running 1:06:29.0 in Stockholm and breaking Ville Kyrönen's record of 1:07:07.2 from the previous year. At the

Sipilä represented Finland in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

, but only placed 15th; a month after the Olympics he broke the world record for 30,000 metres at

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 ...

, running 1:43:07.8. In the same race, Martti Marttelin broke the 25,000 m world record as a split. Sipilä's 20,000 m record was broken in 1930 by Paavo Nurmi, who ran 1:04:38.4; Nurmi's 1928

hour record The hour record is the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a stationary start. Cyclists attempt this record alone on the track without other competitors present. It is considered one of the most prestigious record ...

of 19,210 m would have been equal to a time close to 1:02:30. Sipilä's 30,000 m record was broken in 1931 by Argentina's Juan Carlos Zabala, who went on to win the 1932 Olympic marathon.

Personal life and legacy

His daughter

Leena Leena is a feminine given name. It is a variant spelling of Lina and Lena (name), Lena. It is a direct Quranic Arabic name, meaning "young palm tree", or figuratively "tender, young, delicate". In Persian, it means "light", "a ray of sunlight" or ...

became an Olympic sprint runner. A road at Syrjänharju, Pälkäne, where Sipilä trained, has been named after him.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sipila, Vaino 1897 births 1987 deaths People from Pälkäne Finnish male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Finland World record setters in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic cross country runners Sportspeople from Pirkanmaa