Aarne Reini was one of the world’s top Greco-Roman lightweight wrestlers in the 1930s, although he won his most valuable prize, silver at the 1936 Olympic, as a featherweight, because he was always under the shadow of another great Finnish lightweight, Lauri Koskela. As a lightweight, Reini won European titles in 1933-34 and also competed at the 1932 Olympics, where he finished an unfortunate fourth. As a featherweight, in addition to his Olympic silver, Reini earned silver at the 1931 Workers’ Olympiad. Domestically, Reini captured Finnish Greco-Roman lightweight titles in 1932-35, and 1937-38 and won Finnish Workers’ Sports Federation Greco-Roman featherweight titles in 1928 and 1931. During his sporting career, Reini worked as a machinist and later worked as a wrestling coach, serving as head coach of the Finnish national team.
Finland