In Finland sports were not only the privilege of the upper class. The spread of nationalism, the education of people, the youth association and labour movement helped to integrate sports into the lives of peasants and workers as well. The sports club activity spread to the countryside already before the independence of Finland. This can be considered almost a miracle, because sport was regarded as a sin or at least as a useless waste of time which didn't have any benefits. In spite of that sport gained acceptability, and was believed to improve the quality of life thanks to the efforts of priests, teachers and other educators.

The political history of Finland was stormy in the beginning of the 20th century. In the first days of StockholmÕs Olympics Finland was on the world map of sports, but in 1918 white and red athletes were fighting against each other in the Civil war. In 1919 the sports organisation split politically into two, but during the Winter war in 1939-40 all the Finnish athletes were on the same side. Despite this, the formation of a united Finland was the subject of sports arguments for many years. Because of the splitting and reuniting of the political parties at the time nowadays the sports club organisation structure in Finland is very colourful.
 
 

THE GOLDEN AGE OF FINNISH SPORTS
The force behind Finland's sports success was the large sports club network all around Finland. The doors to body and muscle training practises were opened for people already in 1880's. In the 1920's civil guards and workers' sports clubs were created to support the sports organisation. The Golden Age of sports success began in 1908 in London during the Olympics, in which the Finns participated for the first time with a united team. The Olympics of 1936 in Berlin were the last of the Golden age. During this era our small country won a lot of medals. Finns reached the fourth position in the medal table. Between 1908 and 1936, 57 different countries participated in the Olympic Games. Finns won nearly one tenth of all the medals. The best Olympics for Finland were in Paris in 1924, where Finns "ran, threw, jumped and wrestled" 48 medals. The Finns concentrated on only a few sports. In wrestling the Finns were best in the Greek-Roman category. In track and field the Finnish sports were long-distance running together with decathlon, heptathlon and pentathlon.

The sports were chosen so that the environment and people´s natural resources could be used as well as possible. There were roads for running and stables and barns where wrestling could be practised. Between the years 1908 and 1936 Finns participated in 19 different sports events in the Olympic Games. Success came also in shooting, sailing and figure skating. Skiing wasn't a Finnish sport during the time between the two wars. The first woman athletes participated in the Olympics in Berlin in 1936.

Paavo Nurmi
Paavo Nurmi has been called "the king of runners" and "the flying Finn". This world famous runner has been an important factor on the pocess of building of the Finnish national self-esteem. Nurmi was born in Turku on 13.6.1897. He got all the basics of coaching oneself and was the first to understand the importance of systematical training. His practise consisted of walking, running and gymnastics.

Paavo Nurmi took Hannes Kolehmainen's place as top runner after his runs in The Olympics in Antwerpen. He was the first in 10 000 metres as well as in the personal and team contests in cross-country running. He also got silver in 5000 metres. Paavo Nurmi dominated the running tracks for the next three years. In 1921-1923 he broke many world records. In Stockholm on 22.6.1921 the first one was born: 10 000 metres in 30.40,2. In the end of the season of 1923 Nurmi kept in his possession the world records for one mile, 5000 m and 10 000 m. .

In 1925 Nurmi made a competition tour to United States. He participated in 55 competitions and in several running shows. Out of the 55 competitions he won 53. The tour changed our great runner. The year 1926 was the turning point of his career; from this moment on began the quiet downhill of his career and the competition with others became more even. In the autumn of 1928 Nurmi gave a statement to a Swedish magazine where he announced that this season would be his last. In spite of all he continued his running career but on foreign tracksmainly. In June 1930 Nurmi broke the world record in 6 miles, which had lasted for many years and in September he broke another world record in 20 kilometres in Stockholm. After becoming a professional Paavo Nurmi couldn't compete abroad anymore. His last performance was in 5000 m in Königsberg, Germany on the 4th of October 1931. The Finnish Sports Association did not however accept the classification as a professional and so he continued his career as a so called national amateur until the year 1934.

After his running career was over Nurmi made another one as a businessman and a constructor. Besides his businesses he participated in the coaching of a few young runners in the 1930's and 40's. Although Nurmi didnÕt quite care about publicity he was always ready to help Finland and its sports life. For example during the Winter war Paavo Nurmi and Taisto Mäki participated in a fund-raising event for Finland in the United States. Nurmi and Hannes Kolehmainen got the honour to light the Olympic fire in Helsinki, in 1952.

Paavo Nurmi died in Helsinki on 2nd of October, 1973. He is still remembered and appreciated all over the the world.