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 an autonomous part of the Russian Empire at the time, which allowed it to send a separate team to the Games.
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. MedalNameSportEvent Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight Otto Granström Johan Kemp Iivari Kyykoski Heikki Lehmusto John Lindroth Yrjö Linko Edvard Linna Matti Markkanen Kalle MikkolainenVeli NieminenKalle Kustaa Paasia Arvi Pohjanpää Aarne Pohjonen Eino Railio Ale Riipinen Arno Saarinen Einar Sahlstein Aarne Salovaara Torsten Sandelin Elis Sipilä Viktor Smeds Kaarlo Soinio Kurt Stenberg Väinö Tiiri Magnus Wegelius Gymnastics Men's team Athletics Men's Greek discus throw Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman lightweight
Team
+ Competitors from Finland per sport 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.
No women competed from Finland. However, Valborg Florström performed in a diving exhibition, which made her the first Finnish woman in the Olympics.
Including non-competitors, the Finnish team had 73 athletes and 6 officials. Chef de Mission was Reinhold Felix von Willebrand. The Finnish Comité D'Honneur was Axel Fredrik Londen, Gösta Wasenius and Fred Hackman.
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) 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 ). By June 1908, a further 22,000 markkas (€90,000 ) had been raised by various means.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Contemporary assessment
The popular opinion in Finland of the overall athletic success of their Olympic team was meager, considering its numbers.
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.
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.
Unless otherwise specified, results are lifted from:
Track and road events
AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRank Kalle Nieminen Men's marathoncolspan=4 3:09:50.810 Lauri Pihkala Men's 400 metres did not start did not advance Uuno Railo Men's 100 metres did not start did not advance Men's 200 metres did not start did not advance Men's 400 metres did not start did not advance Ragnar Stenberg Men's 100 metresunknown5th in heat did not advance Men's 200 metres unknown 3rd in heat did not advance Men's 400 metres did not start did not advance Men's 800 metres did not startcolspan=2 did not advance Men's 110 metres hurdles did not start did not advance Men's 400 metres hurdles did not start did not advance Fredrik Svanström Men's 800 metres did not finishcolspan=2 did not advance Men's 1500 metres 4:25.2 3rd in heatcolspan=2 did not advance unknown Men's medley relay did not startcolspan=2 did not advance Notes:
Field events
AthleteEventQualificationFinalResultRankResultRank Juho Halme Men's triple jump unknown 18–20 did not advance Men's shot put unknown 9–25 did not advance Men's javelin throw 44.96 6 did not advance Men's freestyle javelin throw 39.88 9 did not advance Men's discus throw did not start did not advance Evert Jakobsson Men's javelin throw unknown 8–16 did not advance Men's freestyle javelin throw unknown 10–33 did not advance Men's shot put did not start did not advance Jarl Jakobsson Men's standing long jump unknown 8–25 did not advance Men's javelin throw unknown 8–16 did not advance Men's freestyle javelin throw unknown 10–33 did not advance Shot put did not start did not advance Verner Järvinen Men's shot put unknown 9–25 did not advance Men's discus throw 39.43 4 did not advance Men's Greek discus throw 36.49 3 36.49 Men's freestyle javelin throw unknown 10–33 did not advance Johan Kemp Men's freestyle javelin throw unknown 10–33 did not advance Elmer Niklander Men's shot put unknown 9–25 did not advance Men's discus throw unknown 12–42 did not advance Men's Greek discus throw 32.46 9 did not advance Armas Pesonen Men's javelin throw 45.17 5 did not advance Men's freestyle javelin throw 46.04 6 did not advance Long jump did not start did not advance Lauri Pihkala Men's high jump 16 did not advance Men's discus throw unknown 12–42 did not advance Men's shot put did not start did not advance Uuno Railo Men's triple jump did not start did not advance Aarne Salovaara Men's discus throw unknown 12–42 did not advance Men's javelin throw 45.89 4 did not advance Men's freestyle javelin throw unknown 10–33 did not advance Jalmari Sauli Men's shot put 12.58 7 did not advance Men's discus throw unknown 12–42 did not advance Men's javelin throw unknown 7 did not advance Men's freestyle javelin throw 43.30 8 did not advanceMen's Greek discus throwdid not start did not advance Lauri Wilskman Men's high jump did not start did not advance Men's discus throw unknown 12–42 did not advance Shot put did not start did not advance Greek discus throw did not start did not advance Bruno Zilliacus Men's shot put unknown 9–25 did not advance Notes:
Diving
The Finnish divers had low expectations, as they had previously competed in plain jumps only, and their scores suffered from low degrees of difficulty. Valborg Florström performed a diving exhibition with Ebba Gisico of Sweden, which was the first appearance of women in the Olympic pool.
Results are lifted from:
AthleteEventRound OneSemi-finalsFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRank Toivo Aro Men's 10 metre platform 69.50 2nd in pool 62.70 3rd in pool did not advance Waldemar Ullström Men's 10 metre platform did not start did not advance Oskar Wetzell Men's 3 metre springboard 70.83 2nd in pool 70.10 6th in pool did not advance Men's 10 metre platform 69.70 4th in pool did not advance
Gymnastics
Three groups of gymnasts travelled to the Games from Finland. The 26-man main group took part in the team event and 5 men in the individual artistic event. Viipurin Reipas also sent an exhibition team. The Finnish overall result was considered satisfactory.
GymnastEventPointsRank Riku Korhonen Men's artistic individual all-around 143.50 75 Eetu Kosonen Men's artistic individual all-around 120.00 88 Iivari Partanen Men's artistic individual all-around 121.00 85 Jaska Saarivuori Men's artistic individual all-around 132.00 81 David Teivonen Men's artistic individual all-around 117.50 91 Eino ForsströmOtto GranströmJohan KempIivari KyykoskiHeikki LehmustoJohn LindrothYrjö LinkoEdvard LinnaMatti MarkkanenKalle MikkolainenVeli NieminenKalle Kustaa PaasiaArvi PohjanpääAarne PohjonenEino RailioAle RiipinenArno SaarinenEinar SahlsteinAarne SalovaaraTorsten SandelinElis SipiläViktor SmedsKaarlo SoinioKurt StenbergVäinö TiiriMagnus Wegelius Men's team 405
Shooting
Rifle
The Finnish shooting team performed poorly against expectations and returned in disgrace. The captain of the shooting team, Axel Fredrik Londen, explained in an article that the Finnish shooters could only afford an inferior number of practice shots and inferior gunpowder. There also was an import ban on modern bullets and rifles in Finland. Lauri Kolho blamed the fiasco on antiquated gunpowder and bullets further impaired by a strong crosswind.
Results are lifted from:
ShooterEventScoreRank Heikki Hallamaa Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions 576 46 Heikki Huttunen Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions 686 38 Lauri Kolho Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions 672 39 Voitto Kolho Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions 788 17 Gustaf Nyman Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions 615 44 Frans Nässling Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions 733 30 Emil Nässling Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions 657 41 Karl Reilin Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions 584 45 Huvi Tuiskunen Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions 697 37 Heikki HuttunenVoitto KolhoGustaf NymanEmil NässlingFrans NässlingHuvi Tuiskunen Men's 300 metre free rifle, team 3,962 8
Trap
ShooterEvent1st stage2nd stage3rd stageTotalRank Karl Fazer Men's trapdid not start Robert Huber Men's trapdid not start Axel Fredrik Londen Men's trapEliminated did not advance unknown 29–61 Sources differ on the Finnish participation in the trap event: In the Official Report of the 1908 Olympics (published in 1909), the three Finns are listed among 61 entrants to the trap event. It then details the results for 28 shooters that reached the second stage, implying the Finns were eliminated in the first stage. Bill Mallon and Ian Buchanan in modern research of the 1908 Olympics (2000) argue that out of the 61 entrants, only about 31 started, all of whom were allowed to advance to the second stage, and the Finns never started the event. In a contemporary article (1908), Londen describes himself being at the Games in team leader's form, the Finnish shooters entering rifle events only and never mentions Huber or Fazer. The centennial history of the Finnish Olympic Committee (2007) lists Londen as a competitor who was eliminated in the first round without Fazer and Huber. The centennial history of the Finnish Shooting Sport Federation (2019) considers Fazer and Huber to not have started the event and Londen eliminated in the first round.
Swimming
The Finnish swimmers had low expectations and took the games as an excursion. They skipped the freestyle events and competed for the first time in backstroke. Also, they were used to a 25-metre track, but the Olympic pool was 100 metres long, which hindered them in their main event, the breaststroke.