Karelian I.

[DoubleRBar]

Happy birthday today (Tuesday) to an Olympic champion who was born 109 years ago and competed in only one Olympic Games.

This athlete did not have to travel very far from this champion's country to the Olympic city where this person won the gold medal.

Our birthday athlete did not compete in any of the hurdles at the Olympics, however this individual did set an Olympic record.

You may be aware of the fact that our birthday champion died one day before turning 30 years old.

Most people do not die on an isthmus, but this mystery athlete did.

Please name this Olympic champion we celebrate on this 210th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday.

[Olli]

I think I know the answer, but let's see if someone else (who is not LopenUupunut) will get it.

[DoubleRBar]

I'm not surprised that you (Olli) and LopenUupunut would know who our birthday athlete is today.

[Pego]

Looking it up, I never even heard of him before.

[DoubleRBar]

That's probably because he had a fairly short track career with only one Olympic Games (the next Games were cancelled by World War II). He was one of the Olympic favorites going into his final. Unfortunately, he was killed less than four years after winning the Olympic gold medal.

[dukehjsteve]

Gunnar Hockert 5 K

1 of 3 Finns to win, so I have a 33 % chance with this guess.

[DoubleRBar]

Very nice work, dukehjsteve. Gunnar Hockert was born this day in 1910 and went on to win the 1936 Berlin Olympic 5,000 in 14:22.2. He was killed during World War II, the day before his 30th birthday. Of course he was from Finland.

[tandfman]

Wiki sez he was killed in the Winter War between Finland and the USSR, not in World War II.

[Olli]

Winter War (1939–1940) was part of WW II.

[tandfman]

After reading the Wiki article on the Winter War, I'm not convinced that it was part of WWII. I think of WWII as a war between the Axis powers and the Allies. No Axis power was involved in the Winter War.

[Olli]

I think of WWII as a war between the Axis powers and the Allies.

Under the normal definition, WW II is considered to have begun much before those two parties emerged, that is, when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. At that time Germany and Soviet Union were allied in terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Under that pact they agreed how to divide Eastern Europe with each other, including Poland and Finland. I do not think there is any sense to regard Germany's and Soviets' invasion of Poland as part of WWII but Soviets' attack to Finland as something unrelated.

[tandfman]

That the Soviets' attack on Finland was related to WWII does not necessarily mean that it was part of WWII. I think we're quibbling over words here. I'm not a historian and I can't pretend to be really knowledgeable about this. How I think of the Winter War is not very important.

[Olli]

By the way, if you said you read the Wikipedia article about Winter War, you might have noticed a caption above the first picture which says "Part of World War II." And as far as I can see, there is no rationale to think otherwise.

[Pego]

I always considered Soviet annexation of Finland as an integral part of WWII.

[Olli]

My command of English is not perfect, but as far as I understand the meaning of "annexation," there never was "Soviet annexation of Finland," thank God and the Finnish soldiers.