Eeles Landström

Eeles Landström was one of Europe’s finest pole vaulters in the 1950s. He captured gold in that event at the European Championships in 1954 and 1958, won eight consecutive Finnish national championships from 1953 through 1960, and improved the national record 13 times, and the European record thrice. At the Olympics, however, he made his début in the decathlon at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he placed 14th. Afterwards, he focused on the pole vault and placed 7th in 1956 before bringing home a bronze medal in 1960. He was Finland’s flag bearer in the opening ceremonies in both 1956 and 1960.

Landström attended college in the United States, at the University of Michigan, where he won two collegiate pole-vaulting titles, but sport was not his only talent. By career he worked in broadcasting, but also served in the Finnish parliament from 1966 through 1971 and wrote two youth novels, with his first receiving a national award in 1966.

Personal Bests: PV – 4.57 (1958); Dec – 6123 (1952).