Tatu Kolehmainen

Finnish long-distance runner Tatu Kolehmainen won multiple medals at the national championships and set several world and national records. Outside of athletics Kolehmainen had a keen interest in amateur radio. His brother Hannes was one of the greatest distance runners of all time.

Tatu Kolehmainen represented many athletics clubs in Finland including Helsingin Jyry, HKV, and Kuopio Riento. He was successful at the Finnish athletics championships, winning a plethora of medals across multiple distances, with his first gold coming in the marathon in 1909. In the 5,000 metres Kolehmainen won four silvers (1911, 1913–15) and a bronze in 1910. In the 10,000 metres he won gold in 1914 along with five silvers (1908, 1910–11, 1913, 1915) and two bronze medals (1916, 1920). He shared the Finnish championship title in the one-hour run with his brother in 1910 before winning it outright two years later. Kolehmainen also won the national title in the 25,000 metres in 1919.

When it came to records Kolehmainen set a world best time in the 20,000 metres in Helsinki in 1913. He was also the Finnish record holder in the 5,000 metres, the one-hour run, the 25,000 metres, and the marathon. Kolehmainen ran in the 10,000 metres and the marathon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, reaching the final of the former but failing to finish in the latter. After World War I he returned to the Olympics to run in the marathon at the 1920 Antwerpen Games where he finished in 10th place.

Kolehmainen was an honorary member of the Finnish Amateur Radio Association, receiving an award for his work in 1935. In 1939 he had his own radio station in one of the districts in Kuopio.

Personal Bests: 10000 – 32:24.9 (1912); Mar – 2-29:08s (1912).