Veli Saarinen ( Fin. Veli Saarinen ; September 16, 1902 , Martinsaari , Russian Empire - October 12, 1969 , Helsinki ) - Finnish skier , Olympic champion, three-time world champion.
 Veli Saarinen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Veli Selim Saarinen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | fin. Veli saarinen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship |  Finland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of Birth | September 16, 1902 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of Birth | Martinsaari , Russian Empire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | October 12, 1969 (67 years old) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A place of death | Helsinki , Finland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 173 cm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The weight | 65 kg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Club | Kouvolan hiihtoseura | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | completed his career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Career
At the 1928 Olympic Games in St. Moritz , he took 4th place in the 18 km race.
At the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, he won a gold medal in the 50 km race, winning only 20 seconds from his teammate, VΓ€inΓΆ Liikkanen , who became the second, while Saarinen became the first Finnish to win Olympic gold in cross-country skiing. He won a bronze medal in the 18 km race, losing 17 seconds to the Swede Axel WikstrΓΆm for more than a minute and winning his fourth teammate Martti Lappalainen for more than a minute.
At the world championships during his career he won three gold and two silver and one bronze medals. After completing his sports career, he worked as a head coach in German and then Finnish ski racing teams.
Links
- Veli Saarinen - statistics on the FIS website
- Veli Saarinen - Olympic statistics at Sports-Reference.com