Finland competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium for the first time as a fully independent state under its own flag. It competed independently in 1908 and 1912 as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire. 63 competitors, 62 men and 1 woman, took part in 51 events in 9 sports.

Medalists

Gold Athletics Men's 10000 m: Paavo Nurmi Men's cross country individual: Paavo Nurmi Men's cross country team: Frederick Teudor Koskenniemi, Heikki Liimatainen, Paavo Nurmi Men's discus throw: Elmer Konstantin Niklander Men's javelin throw: Jonni Myyrä Men's marathon: Hannes Kolehmainen Men's pentathlon: Eero Reino Lehtonen Men's shot put: Frans Wilhelmi Pörhölä Men's triple jump: Vilho Immanuel Tuulos Figure skating (on ice) Mixed pairs: Ludowika Jakobsson, Walter Jakobsson Wrestling Men's freestyle 60–67.5 kg (lightweight): Kalle Anttila Men's freestyle 67.5–75 kg (middleweight): Eino Aukusti Leino Men's Greco-Roman +82 kg (super heavyweight): Adolf Valentin Lindfors Men's Greco-Roman -60 kg (featherweight): Oskar David Friman Men's Greco-Roman 60–67.5 kg (lightweight): Eemil Ernesti Väre

Silver Athletics Men's 5000 m: Paavo Nurmi Men's discus throw: Armas Rudolf Taipale Men's javelin throw: Urho Pellervo Peltonen Men's shot put: Elmer Konstantin Niklander Shooting Men's team, 100 m running deer, single shot: Yrjö Kolho, Kaarlo Kustaa Lappalainen, Robert Tikkanen, Nestori Toivonen, Magnus Wegelius Wrestling Men's freestyle 67.5–75 kg (middleweight): Väinö Penttala Men's Greco-Roman -60 kg (featherweight): Heikki Kähkönen Men's Greco-Roman 60–67.5 kg (lightweight): Taavi Tamminen Men's Greco-Roman 67.5–75 kg (middleweight): Arthur Lindfors Men's Greco-Roman 75–82 kg (light-heavyweight): Edil Rosenqvist

Bronze Athletics Men's cross country individual: Heikki Liimatainen Men's javelin throw: Paavo Jaale-Johansson Men's pentathlon: Hugo Jalmari Lahtinen Shooting Men's team, 100 m running deer, double shots: Yrjö Kolho, Robert Tikkanen, Nestori Toivonen, Vilho Vauhkonen, Magnus Wegelius Men's team 300 m free rifle, prone: Voitto Waldemar Kolho, Kaarlo Kustaa Lappalainen, Veli Nieminen, Vilho Vauhkonen, Magnus Wegelius Swimming Men's 200 m breaststroke: Arvo Ossian Aaltonen Men's 400 m breaststroke: Arvo Ossian Aaltonen Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman + 82 kg (super heavyweight): Martti Nieminen Men's Greco-Roman 67.5–75 kg (middleweight): Matti Perttilä

Aquatics

Diving

Three divers, all men, represented Finland in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. Valkama was the only diver to advance to a final, placing fifth in the plain high diving. This result matched Finland's best diving result to date.

Men

Ranks given are within the semifinal group.

DiverEventSemifinalsFinalPointsScoreRankPointsScoreRank Kalle Kainuvaara 10 m platform 35 356.80 7 did not advance Plain high dive 15 160.0 4 did not advance Lauri Kyöstilä 10 m platform 21 441.80 4 did not advance Yrjö Valkama Plain high dive 14 157.0 3 Q 23 167.5 5

Swimming

A single swimmer represented Finland in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport as well as the Olympics. Aaltonen won bronze medals in both of his breaststroke events. They were Finland's first Olympic swimming medals; Aaltonen had been the first Finn to advance to a swimming event final.

Ranks given are within the heat.

Men

SwimmerEventQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalResultRankResultRankResultRank Arvo Aaltonen 200 m breast 3:11.6 2 Q 3:12.4 2 Q 3:12.2 400 m breast 6:50.0 2 Q 6:45.0 1 Q 6:48.0

Athletics

26 athletes represented Finland in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in athletics, a sport in which Finland had competed each time the country appeared at the Olympics. The Finnish team garnered nine gold medals, matching the United States for the most in that category. With only about a quarter of the number of athletes, however, the Finns could not match the depth of the United States and finished with 13 fewer total medals.

The Finland team's greatest successes came in long distance running events (gold medals in the 10,000 metres, marathon, individual cross country, and team cross country) and throwing events (golds in the discus throw, shot put, and javelin throw—sweeping the medals in the latter). They also took the championships in the triple jump and the pentathlon.

Ranks given are within the heat.

AthleteEventHeatsQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankResultRank Hannes Kolehmainen Marathon N/A 2:32:35.8 Tatu Kolehmainen Marathon N/A 2:44:02.3 10 Teodor Koskenniemi 5000 m N/A 15:22.0 3 Q 15:17.0 4 Cross country N/A 27:57.2 6 Heikki Liimatainen 10000 m N/A 32:08.2 1 Q 32:28.0 7 Cross country N/A 27:37.0 Hannes Miettinen Cross country N/A Unknown 23 Paavo Nurmi 5000 m N/A 15:33.0 2 Q 15:00.0 10000 m N/A 33:46.3 2 Q 31:45.8 Cross country N/A 27:15.0 Eino Rastas Cross country N/A Unknown 18 Oskari Rissanen 3000 m steeplechase N/A 11:07.5 3 Q did not start Urho Tallgren Marathon N/A 2:42:40.0 9 Juho Tuomikoski Marathon N/A 2:40:18.8 5 Ilmari Vesamaa 5000 m N/A 15:54.4 4 did not advance 3000 m steeplechase N/A 10:32.2 4 did not advance Cross country N/A Unknown 14 Valdemar Wickholm 400 m hurdles N/A 57.9 3 did not advance Erik Wilén 400 m 52.0 2 Q 51.0 4 did not advance 400 m hurdles N/A 58.4 2 Q Unknown 5 did not advance Teodor Koskenniemi Heikki Liimatainen Paavo Nurmi Cross country N/A 10

AthleteEventQualifyingFinalResultRankResultRank Pekka Johansson Javelin throw 63.095 2 Q 63.095 Hugo Lahtinen Long jump 6.19 19 did not advance Eero Lehtonen Long jump 6.285 16 did not advance Jonni Myyrä Discus throw 37.00 12 did not advance Javelin throw 60.63 3 Q 65.78 OR Elmer Niklander Shot put 14.155 1 Q 14.155 Discus throw 44.685 1 Q 44.685 56 lb weight throw 8.865 8 did not advance Ossian Nylund Triple jump 13.74 7 did not advance Urho Peltonen Javelin throw 63.605 OR 1 Q 63.605 Johan Pettersson Hammer throw 41.76 11 did not advance 56 lb weight throw 9.375 6 Q 9.375 6 Ville Pörhölä Shot put 14.035 3 Q 14.81 Discus throw 38.19 8 did not advance 56 lb weight throw 8.85 9 did not advance Jussi Ruoho Pole vault 3.60 1 Q 3.40 12 Julius Saaristo Javelin throw 60.045 5 Q 62.395 4 Armas Taipale Shot put 12.945 10 did not advance Discus throw 44.19 2 Q 44.19 Vilho Tuulos Triple jump 14.505 1 Q 14.505

AthleteEventFinalTotalRank Pekka Johansson Decathlon did not finish Hugo Lahtinen Pentathlon 26 Decathlon did not finish Eero Lehtonen Pentathlon 14 Decathlon did not finish Jonni Myyrä Pentathlon did not finish Ossian Nylund Pentathlon did not finish Valdemar Wickholm Decathlon 6405.460 6

Equestrian

A single equestrian represented Finland in 1920. It was the nation's debut in the sport. Wilkman competed in the eventing competition, placing 17th.

EquestrianHorseEventFinal Result Rank Oskar Wilkman Meno Eventing 1282.50 17

Modern pentathlon

Two pentathletes represented Finland in 1920. It was the nation's debut in the sport.

A point-for-place system was used, with the lowest total score winning.

PentathleteFinalRidingFencingShootingSwimmingRunningTotalRank Emil Alfons Hagelberg 10 3 21 9 8 51 7 Kalle Kainuvaara did not finish

Skating

Figure skating

Three figure skaters represented Finland in 1920. It was the nation's debut in the sport. The Jakobssons, a married couple, won the pairs competition. Ilmanen placed fifth of nine in the men's singles.

SkaterEventFinalResultRank Sakari Ilmanen Men's singles 30.0 5 Ludowika Jakobsson Walter Jakobsson Pairs 7.0

Shooting

Nine shooters represented Finland in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport as well as the Olympics. The Finns were looking to improve upon the pair of bronze medals they had won in 1912, which was the country's best result to date. They were successful, taking a silver medal in the team running deer single shots competition as well as another pair of bronzes in other team competitions.

ShooterEventFinalResultRank Voitto Kolho 300 m free rifle, 3 pos. 974 7 Yrjö Kolho 100 m deer, single shots 40 4 Kalle Lappalainen 300 m free rifle, 3 pos. 945 Unknown Veli Nieminen 300 m free rifle, 3 pos. 934 Unknown Trap Unknown Toivo Tikkanen 100 m deer, single shots 40 5 Vilho Vauhkonen 300 m free rifle, 3 pos. 966 Unknown 300 m military rifle, prone 59 4 Magnus Wegelius 300 m free rifle, 3 pos. 849 Unknown 300 m military rifle, standing 51 Unknown 600 m military rifle, prone 51 Unknown Voitto Kolho Yrjö Kolho Frans Nässling Toivo Tikkanen Nestor Toivonen 50 m team free pistol 2052 11 Voitto Kolho Kalle Lappalainen Veli Nieminen Vilho Vauhkonen Magnus Wegelius Team free rifle 4668 4 300 m team military rifle, prone 281 600 m team military rifle, prone 268 8 300 & 600 m team military rifle, prone 524 10 Voitto Kolho Kalle Lappalainen Nestor Toivonen Vilho Vauhkonen Magnus Wegelius 300 m team military rifle, standing 235 7 Yrjö Kolho Kalle Lappalainen Toivo Tikkanen Nestor Toivonen Magnus Wegelius 100 m team deer, single shots 159 Yrjö Kolho Toivo Tikkanen Nestor Toivonen Vilho Vauhkonen Magnus Wegelius 100 m team deer, double shots 285

Weightlifting

A single weightlifter represented Finland in 1920. It was the nation's debut in the sport. Ekström competed in the light heavyweight category, but did not finish the competition.

WeightlifterEventFinalResultRank Rudolf Ekström 82.5 kg did not finish

Wrestling

Eighteen wrestlers competed for Finland in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport as well as the Olympics. The Finland team was the most successful of any country, taking fully half of the gold medals as well as twice as many total medals as any other country. Twelve of the eighteen wrestlers won medals.

Nine of the ten Greco-Roman wrestlers won medals, including three gold medals. The Finns swept the top two places in two of the five events, won two medals in two other events, and took one medal in the fifth. The Finnish wrestlers won 84% of their matches, a percentage that rises to 89% when matches between two men from Finland are excluded.

The eight freestyle wrestlers were also successful, taking two of a possible five gold medals, but not to the extent of the Greco-Roman wrestlers. Only three of the eight took medals, and the winning percentage was a less-staggering though still respectable 70%.

Freestyle

WrestlerEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals / Bronze matchRank Kalle Anttila Lightweight N/A (W) (W) (W) (W) Johan Gallén Light heavyweight N/A (W) (L) did not advance 5 Eino Leino Middleweight Bye (W) (W) (W) (W) Kaarlo Mäkinen Featherweight N/A (L) did not advance 9 Sven Mattsson Heavyweight N/A (L) did not advance 5 Väinö Penttala Middleweight (W) (W) (W) (W) (L) Jussi Salila Heavyweight N/A (L) did not advance 5 Emil Westerlund Light heavyweight N/A (W) (L) did not advance 5

Opponent nation Wins Losses Percent 4 0 1.000 2 0 1.000 2 0 1.000 1 1 .500 1 1 .500 3 3 .500 Total international 13 5 .722 1 1 .500 Total 14 6 .700

Round Wins Losses Percent Round of 32 1 0 1.000 Round of 16 5 1 .857 Quarterfinals 3 4 .429 Semifinals 3 0 1.000 Final 2 1 .667 Bronze match 0 0 – Total 14 6 .700

Greco-Roman