Urho Peltonen

Urho Peltonen
Peltonen at the 1912 Olympics
Personal information
Full nameUrho Pellervo Peltonen
Born15 January 1893
Nurmes, Finland
Died4 May 1950 (aged 57)
Helsinki, Finland
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
EventJavelin throw
ClubTampeeren SLU
Helsingin Kisa-Veikot
Tampereen Pyrintö
Achievements and titles
Personal best64.35 (1916)[1]
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1912 Stockholm Two-handed javelin throw
Silver medal – second place 1920 Antwerp Javelin throw

Urho Pellervo Peltonen (15 January 1893 – 7 January 1951) was a Finnish athlete who competed mainly in the javelin throw.[2]

He competed for Finland in the 1912 Summer Olympics held in Stockholm, Sweden, in both the regular and two-handed javelin throw,[3] a one-time Olympic event in which the total was counted as a sum of best throws with the right hand and with the left hand. Peltonen won a bronze medal in the latter event behind fellow Finns Julius Saaristo and Väinö Siikaniemi and one place ahead of Swede Eric Lemming, who had won the one hand competition.[4] Eight years later after World War I he again competed for Finland in the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium, where he won the silver medal in the regular javelin as Finland swept the first four places with Jonni Myyrä winning, Paavo Johansson in third and Saaristo in fourth.[3]

His personal best, set in Helsinki in 1916, was 64.35 m.[3] This was superior to Lemming's official world record at the time of 62.32 m, but was never ratified by IAAF as a new world record. However, it was ratified as a Finnish record.[5]

After retiring from competitions Peltonen became an official with the International Association of Athletics Federations.[3]

  1. ^ Urho Peltonen. trackfield.brinkster.net
  2. ^ "Urho Peltonen". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Urho Peltonen Biography and Olympic Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  4. ^ "Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's Javelin Throw, Both Hands". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  5. ^ Finnish Wikipedia template on the development of the national javelin record[user-generated source]