Heikki Savolainen (athlete)
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Olympic medal record | |||
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Men's Artistic Gymnastics | |||
Gold | 1948 London | Pommel horse | |
Gold | 1948 London | Team competition | |
Silver | 1932 Los Angeles | Horizontal bar | |
Bronze | 1928 Amsterdam | Pommel horse | |
Bronze | 1932 Los Angeles | All-Around | |
Bronze | 1932 Los Angeles | Parallel bars | |
Bronze | 1932 Los Angeles | Team competition | |
Bronze | 1936 Berlin | Team competition | |
Bronze | 1952 Helsinki | Team competition |
Heikki Ilmari Savolainen (September 28, 1907 — November 29, 1997) was one of the most successful Finnish gymnasts and a two-time olympic winner.
Savolainen's career as a top gymnast lasted for six olympiads, ie. 24 years, from 1928 to 1952. In 1928 in Amsterdam he won bronze on pommel horse, which was the first ever medal in gymnastics for Finland. Winning his last medal in the home olympics of 1952 in Helsinki, he was the all time oldest medalist in gymnastics, 44 years old. In the opening ceremony of the same olympics, he was the one to deliver the Olympic Oath. Together with Harri Kirvesniemi, Alexei Nemov, and Franziska van Almsick, Savolainen has a record breaking six bronze medals.
In the 1932 horizontal bar event Savolainen and his team mate Einari Teräsvirta had the same score, but the Finnish team decided to give the silver medal to Savolainen. In the 1948 pommel horse event Savolainen again had the same score with team mates Veikko Huhtanen and Paavo Aaltonen, and the gold medal was shared between the three.
Heikki Savolainen graduated as a physical education teacher in 1931, and a Doctor of Medicine in 1939, after which he started working as a doctor in his home town Kajaani, Finland. During the Winter War he served with the rank Lieutenant Colonel as the head doctor in a military hospital.
Olympic champions in men's pommel horse |
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1896: Louis Zutter | 1904: Anton Heida | 1924: Josef Wilhelm | 1928: Hermann Hänggi | 1932: István Pelle | 1936: Konrad Frey | 1948: Paavo Aaltonen-Veikko Huhtanen-Heikki Savolainen | 1952: Viktor Chukarin | 1956: Boris Shakhlin | 1960:Boris Shakhlin-Eugen Ekman | 1964: Miroslav Cerar | 1968: Miroslav Cerar | 1972: Viktor Klimenko | 1976: Zoltán Magyar | 1980: Zoltán Magyar | 1984: Li Ning-Peter Glen Vidmar | 1988: Zsolt Borkai-Dmitry Bilozerchev-Lubomir Geraskov | 1992: Vitaly Scherbo-Gil-Su Pae | 1996: Donghua Li | 2000: Marius Daniel Urzică | 2004: Haibin Teng |
Categories: Finnish people stubs | 1907 births | 1997 deaths | Finnish gymnasts | Gymnasts at the 1928 Summer Olympics | Gymnasts at the 1932 Summer Olympics | Gymnasts at the 1936 Summer Olympics | Gymnasts at the 1948 Summer Olympics | Gymnasts at the 1952 Summer Olympics | Olympic gold medalists for Finland | Olympic silver medalists for Finland | Olympic bronze medalists for Finland