A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Finland at the 1908 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | FIN |
| NOC | Finnish Olympic Committee |
| Website | sport |
| in London | |
| Competitors | 62 (62 men and 0 women) in 6 sports and 23 events |
| Flag bearer | Bruno Zilliacus |
| Medals Ranked 13th |
|
| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
| Other related appearances | |
| 1906 Intercalated Games | |
Finland competed at the Summer Olympic Games for the first time at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The Grand Duchy of Finland was part of the Russian Empire at the time, but Finland had become a sovereign member of the International Olympic Committee in 1907.
Medals
Verner Weckman became the first Finn to win an Olympic gold. He had also been the first Finn to win a gold at the 1906 Intercalated Games.[1]
Team
| Sport | Men |
|---|---|
| Athletics | 15 |
| Diving | 2 |
| Gymnastics | 31 |
| Shooting | 9 |
| Swimming | 3 |
| Wrestling | 4 |
| Total | 62 |
Aarne Salovaara and Johan Kemp competed in two sports, among 46 athletes in the games who competed in multiple sports.[2]
No women competed from Finland. However, Valborg Florström performed in a diving exhibition, which made her the first Finnish woman in the Olympics.[3]
Including non-competitors, the Finnish team had 73 athletes and 6 officials. Chef de Mission was Reinhold Felix von Willebrand.[4] The Finnish Comité D'Honneur was Axel Fredrik Londen, Gösta Wasenius and Fred Hackman.[5]
Preparations
At the time, Grand Duchy of Finland was not an independent country, but an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. However, Finns were qualified to take part independently as a sporting nation, which was a category recently devised by Pierre de Coubertin, in an International Olympic Committee meeting in May 1907. Formal Finnish preparations for the 1908 Games had already began by then. In December, the Finnish Olympic Committee was established, which budgeted 48,000 Finnish markkas (equal to about 200,000 euros in 2018[6]) for a team of 80 to be sent. Half of it was applied from the Senate of Finland, who eventually granted only 8,000 markkas (€30,000 [6]). By June 1908, a further 22,000 markkas (€90,000 [6]) had been raised by various means.[7]
The Finnish Olympic team was mostly selected by trials arranged in the spring of 1908. A few had to be replaced, when gymnastics teachers were defined as professionals.[8]
Most of the Finnish team departed Helsinki aboard steamer Polaris on 7 July 1908. The shooting team had departed on 1 July, and wrestler Verner Weckman travelled independently from Berlin.[8]
Opening ceremony controversies
Polaris arrived in Hull on 13 July, the day of the opening ceremony, late due to a machine breakdown. A train took them to London, where they went directly from the station to the stadium. The hosts penalized the Finnish tardiness by having them enter the stadium last in the Parade of Nations, instead of their alphabetical position.[9]
A further problem was caused by their flag. There was no official flag of Finland at the time, but they had brought three options, one of which represented the coat of arms of Finland, the other two bearing the texts "Finlandia" and "Suomi-Finland". However, none of them was allowed, and the flag bearer Bruno Zilliacus carried a mere cardboard text plaque "Finland" that was borrowed from their dressing room door.[9]
Contemporary assessment
The popular opinion in Finland of the overall athletic success of their Olympic team was meager, considering its numbers.[9]
Finnish sports leaders judged the Olympic participation to have been merely an expensive excursion, and pointed out two principal problems. First was an undisciplined and immoral tourist mindset among the team, which manifested as partying, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. Second was a poor organization for the Games, which included a belated preparation only months in advance; minimal equipment for the team, such as bringing only one javelin; and having no professional coaching.[10]
Athletics
Finland's best result was Verner Järvinen's bronze medal in the Greek-style discus throw. The athletics team generally performed up to expectations. Only javelin throw was considered a let down.[11]
Unless otherwise specified, results are lifted from:
- Mallon, Bill; Buchanan, Ian (2001). The 1908 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events, With Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina, United States: McFarland. pp. 44–100. ISBN 978-0-7864-0598-5.
Track and road events
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Semifinal | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | ||
| Kalle Nieminen | Men's marathon | — | 3:09:50.8 | 10 | |||
| Lauri Pihkala | Men's 400 metres | did not start[12] | did not advance | ||||
| Uuno Railo[Track 1] | Men's 100 metres | did not start[14] | did not advance | ||||
| Men's 200 metres | did not start[15] | did not advance | |||||
| Men's 400 metres | did not start[16] | did not advance | |||||
| Ragnar Stenberg | Men's 100 metres | unknown | 5th in heat | did not advance | |||
| Men's 200 metres | unknown | 3rd in heat[Track 2] | did not advance | ||||
| Men's 400 metres | did not start[18] | did not advance | |||||
| Men's 800 metres | did not start[19] | — | did not advance | ||||
| Men's 110 metres hurdles | did not start[20] | did not advance | |||||
| Men's 400 metres hurdles | did not start[21] | did not advance | |||||
| Fredrik Svanström | Men's 800 metres | did not finish[Track 3] | — | did not advance | |||
| Men's 1500 metres | 4:25.2 | 3rd in heat | — | did not advance | |||
| unknown | Men's medley relay | did not start[23] | — | did not advance | |||
Notes: