Hannes Kolehmainen

            Johannes (Hannes) Petteri Kolehmainen of Finland was born on December 9, 1889 in Kuopio, Finland.  His two brothers were also distance runners.  Kolehmainen began running when he was a teenager.  Kolehmainen won the British four mile championship race in 1911.

          In the 1912 Olympics, he won the 10,000m, 5,000 m, and 12,000m cross-country run.  He also won silver in the 8,000m team race.  He most likely would have won a medal in the 3,000m team race.  Kolehmainen won his heat, but the other three Finnish runners did not turn in good times, and Finland did not make it to the final.

     The 5,000m final was exciting.  Kolehmainen and Jean Bouin of France, the two favorites, had a huge lead on the rest of the runners in a short time.  It was the two of them for gold and silver.  For twelve and a half laps, they stayed together.  The two kept passing each other, but neither managed to pull away.  With 20 meters to go, Bouin was winning.  Then, with a final burst of energy, Kolehmainen broke the tape at the finish line slightly ahead of Bouin, with a world record time of 14:36.6.  Kolehmainen broke into a grin.  That is why he is given the nickname “Smiling Hannnes.”

          After the race, while being congratulated by Lord Noel-Baker, he looked up on the flagpole and saw the Russian flag.  As in 1908 the Finnish athletes had decided to use no flag instead of the Russian one when they won medals.  In what sealed his popularity for Finns, he said “I would almost rather not have won, than see that flag up there.”

          Kolehmainen most likely would have won more medals in the 1916 Olympics, but they were canceled for World War I.  He therefore could not compete again until 1920, when he was well past his prime.  Even so, he decided to run the marathon.  It was the longest Olympic marathon: 42,750 meters and in heavy rain.

          Even so, Kolehmainen did excellent.  After five kilometers, he was in second place.  For the next ten km, he was never less than fourth.  After the 15^th kilometer, he was in second again.  Kolehmainen became the leader in after 30 km and never lost it.

          Kolehmainen died in Helsinki, on November 11, 1966.  He was not only remembered for being an outstanding runner, but for inspiring another Finn, Paavo Nurmi, to pursue his own dreams of running long distance races in the Olympics.

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