Flying Finn (sports)

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Ville Ritola and Paavo Nurmi in 1928

"The Flying Finn" was a nickname given to several Finnish middle and long-distance runners. The term has such international renown that it is often attached to notable Finnish sportsmen whose exploits are fleet of foot or have to do with fast cars.

1 Running
2 Rallying and Formula One
3 Other Flying Finns
4 External links

[edit] Running

The nickname was first used of Hannes Kolehmainen, also known as "Smiling Hannes", as he took home three gold medals during the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. As Finnish runners started to dominate long-distance running, the nickname was passed on to all successful Finns in the sport, including multi-Olympic gold medalists Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola. Nurmi won three gold medals at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Belgium and five at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, where he was partenered with Ritola, who ran to four gold medals. Volmari Iso-Hollo, the winner of 3000m steeplechase at the 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics, was one of the best-known Finnish runners in the 1930s and also nicknamed the Flying Finn. The last Flying Finn in running was Lasse Virén, who won the 5000m and 10,000m events at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics.

[edit] Rallying and Formula One

The nickname was next used to describe the efforts of Finnish rally drivers in the 1960s. Timo Mäkinen was the first driver referenced as the Flying Finn. In 1968, even a Castrol-produced film called "The Flying Finns" was made. It consisted of the 1968 1000 Lakes Rally and concentrated on documenting the duel between Mäkinen and Hannu Mikkola. The term then moved on to the next generations of Finnish rally drivers, and among others, the four-time World Rally Champions Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Mäkinen were often referred to as Flying Finns.

The first one to carry the nickname in Formula One was Leo Kinnunen, who wasn't able to turn his success in sports car racing into a successful F1 career in his underpowered Surtees. Thus, Keke Rosberg became the first well-known Finn in the sport as he won the championship in 1982. Unarguably the most famous Flying Finn of the past years has been Mika Häkkinen who won the championship twice and currently races in DTM. Kimi Räikkönen replaced Häkkinen at McLaren-Mercedes in 2002, and has also been referred to as the Flying Finn.