Name — Hannes Kolehmainen

Country — Finland

Date of birth —Dec 9, 1889

Birthplace — Kuopio

Height — 170 cm

Weight — 57.0 kg

Disciplines — 5000m, 10,000m, marathon, cross-country

World Records — 6 (3000m, 5000m, 10,000m, 25km, 30km)

Olympic Games (5 medals:-4 gold, 1 silver)

5000m: 1st (1912)

10,000m: 1st (1912)

Marathon: 1st and world best (1920)

Cross-country (12,000m): 1st (1912)

Cross-country team (12,000m): 2nd (1912)

A 22-year-old vegetarian bricklayer from Finland ran off with three endurance races staged for the first time — the 5000m, 10,000m and 12,000m cross country in the 1912 Games in Stockholm. But that Johan “Hannes” Kolehmainen — Finland’s first outstanding Olympian — could do so was hardly surprising given that, along with brothers Wiljami, Kalle and Tatu, it was not out of the ordinary to ski to the nearest town Lisalmi… Only 100km away.

He soon took up running and began to train seriously with a prepared programme. But Hannes was also gifted with a legacy of hard work and determination distilled in him by his mother who, his father having died while a child, had brought up the five-strong family on her own.

At the end of a successful career and after helping compatriot Albin Stenroos to prepare for his marathon title, Kolehmainen opened a sports shop in Helsinki.

He returned to the Olympic stage in Helsinki one more time in 1952 to light the Olympic flame — passed to him by compatriot Paavo Nurmi. He died from a brain haemorrhage in 1966 at the age of 76. (AFP)