Nurmi, Paavo Johannes

Nurmi, Paavo Johannes (1897-1973), Finnish athlete.

In his day, Paavo Nurmi was the best known athlete in the world.

He was a middle-distance runner and set twenty official world records from 1,500 metres to 20,000 metres.

In three Olympic Games from 1920 to 1928 he won nine gold medals, seven on his own and two in teams.

The 'Phantom Finn', as he was nicknamed, always ran with a stop-watch in his hand to check his times.

He won his last championship at the age of thirty-six.

There is a statue of Nurmi outside the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki and he carried the Olympic torch into the stadium for the 1952 Games held there.