Eeles Landström

Eeles Enok Landström (born 3 January, 1932 in Viiala, Finland) is a Finnish Olympic medalist and double European Champion in pole vault, a former member of the Finnish parliament and former business executive.

Eeles Landström was the first Finnish participant at the Olympic Academy arranged by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) (Athens 1961).

Landström studied in the United States at the University of Michigan and graduated as Bachelor of Science in 1959.

Landström was a member of the Finnish parliament in 1966-1971 and worked also in executive positions, for example as Assistant Director of Finance in the Finnish Broadcasting Company in 1976-1981 and as a member of the Administrative Council of the Finnish Broadcasting Company in 1967-1976.

Landström participated in the International Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) as a board memberof Finland’s group and as a representative of Finland in the European Broadcasting Union, nominated by the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

Landström has written two youth novels (1966, 1974) and a biography (2002). His first novel was awarded as the best Finnish youth novel in 1966.

Landström has lived in Spain since 1981.

Achievements in sports

Olympic bronze medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome (Italy) (pole vault)

Gold in the European Championships in Athletics in Bern (Germany) in 1954 and in Stockholm (Sweden) in 1958 (The only medal Finland won in these games)

Australian record in pole vault in Bendigo (Australia) in 1956

Landström improved the European record three times in the years 1955-1956

Landström improved the Finnish record 13 times in the years 1954-1958

He participated as a member of the Finnish team in 30 international competitions, winning 25 games in a row.

He won the Finnish championship eight times in a row in the years 1953-1960.

In 1961, Landström won the Nordic Championship still using a steel pole; the following year 1962 began the era of fiber glass poles.

Eeles Landström carried the flag for the Finnish team in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne and in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

Landström won the Spanish International Senior Amateur Championship in golf in 1992.

Other on his athletic career:

Said on the [http://www.sul.fi/index.php?sivutunniste=1&sivuitem=188&riviavain=266 Finnish Athletes website:] ”In the 1950s, Finnish track and field had introduced talented and skilled pole vaulters. One of the pole vault legends, Eeles Landström, became a key figure in track and field, and due to the steel pole changing into glass fiber; a lot of young men around the country were tempted to try their skills with the new equipment.

By the beginning of 1960’s, Landström’s European Championships in 1954 and 1958, as well as the Olympic bronze medal in 1960, the pole vault enthusiasm had reached its peak in Finland."

During the last year of his sports career, Landström arranged fiber glass poles to be exported from the United States, and thus Finns were the first in Europe to use the new equipment in pole vault.

See also

*Michigan Wolverines

External links

* [http://www.sul.fi/index.php?sivutunniste=1&sivuitem=149&riviavain=208 Chris Turner: HISTORY OF FINNISH ATHLETICS]
* [http://www.noc.fi/in_english/olympic_history/statistics_by_games/ Finnish Olympic Committee: Statistics by Games]
* [http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/olymp2/ol1956.htm University of Michigan Athletics History 1900-2006: Melbourne 1956]
* [http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/archive/results/features/big_ten_at_winners.html Track and Field: All-time Big Men's Winners 1901-2001]