Paavo Nurmi

Paavo Johannes Nurmi was born in Turku, Finland. Raised in a working-class family that fell into poverty when his father died in 1910, Nurmi left school at twelve to work as an errand boy. Inspired by Finnish distance pioneer Hannes Kolehmainen, Nurmi revolutionized distance training by introducing rigorous winter cross-country skiing, calisthenics, and running with a stopwatch in hand to master exact, metronomic pacing.

At the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, Nurmi won three gold medals and one silver. His crowning masterpiece arrived at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. On 10 July 1924, in the scorching heat of Colombes Stadium, Nurmi performed an athletic miracle: he won the 1,500 meters in an Olympic record, rested for just 55 minutes in the infield grass, and then won the 5,000 meters with another Olympic record. He finished the Paris Games with five gold medals in four days.

Nurmi won his ninth Olympic gold medal in the 10,000 meters at Amsterdam 1928. Unjustly barred from competing in the 1932 Los Angeles marathon due to strict amateurism rules, Nurmi was honored at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics when he entered the stadium carrying the Olympic torch to a rapturous standing ovation from 70,000 spectators. He was accorded a state funeral in Helsinki upon his death in 1973.