Akilles Järvinen

Akilles ("Aki") Eero Johannes Järvinen (September 19, 1905 – March 7, 1943) was a Finnish athlete and decathlete and Olympic medallist.

Järvinen could be considered one of Finland's most versatile athletes. At the national level, his decathlon records are still competitive. His greatest success was as a decathlete; he won two Olympic silver medals in the event. He also won a silver medal in the 400 m hurdles in the European Championships.

Akilles Järvinen's father, Verner Järvinen, was himself a champion in the 1906 Summer Olympics. The pair had a falling out when Akilles started dating Annikki Sauli because her father, Hjalmar Sauli, had placed ahead of Verner in the shot put at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Akilles' brother Matti Järvinen was an Olympic champion and 10-time world-record breaker in javelin throw.

Akilles died in 1943 when the PY-37 trainer aircraft that he was flying in and that was piloted by Captain Erkki Pohjanheimo, crashed during a test flight.

Achievements

*Silver medal - Decathlon, 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam
*World record - Decathlon (1930)
*Silver medal - Decathlon, 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles
*World record - Decathlin (1932)
*Silver medal - 400 m hurdles, 1934 European Championships in Athletics in Turin
*10 gold & 9 miscellaneous medals - Finnish Championships

Personal Records Per Event

* 100 m - 10.9 s
* 200 m - 21.9 s
* 400 m - 49.0 s
* 1500 m - 4 m, 47 s
* 110 m hurdles - 15.2 s
* 200 m hurdles - 25.4 s
* 400 m hurdles - 53.7 s
* High jump - 180 cm
* Pole vault - 360 cm
* Long jump - 712 cm
* Triple jump - 14.32 m
* Shot put - 14.10 m
* Discus - 36.95 m
* Javelin - 63.25 m
* Decathlon (modern scoring system) - 7038

External links

* [http://www.decathlonusa.org/history.html decathlonusa.org] (Article contains picture of Järvinen with the other two decathlon medalists in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.)

Persondata
NAME=Jarvinen, Akilles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Finnish athlete and decathlete
DATE OF BIRTH=September 19, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=March 7, 1943
PLACE OF DEATH=