Martti Tolamo

Martti Leo Tolamo (born Topelius; 21 February 1907 – 14 March 1940) was a Finnish athlete. He competed in the Olympic Games as a decathlete and a long jumper; his other strong event was the non-Olympic pentathlon, in which he broke the unofficial world record in 1930 and won two medals, including a gold, at the International University Games.

Martti Tolamo

Personal information
Birth name	Martti Leo Topelius
Nationality	Finnish
Born	21 February 1907
Died	14 March 1940 (aged 33)
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Pentathlon: 4011 (1930) Long jump: 7.51 (1934)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Finland International University Games 1930 Darmstadt Pentathlon 1933 Turin Long jump 1933 Turin Pentathlon

Career

At the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam Tolamo competed in the decathlon, placing 16th.[1] The following year he exceeded the Finnish long jump record with a jump of 7.42 m, but due to wind assistance that record could not be ratified.[2]

At the 1930 Finnish Championships at Tampere he won the pentathlon with 4011 points, an unofficial world record.[2] He also triumphed at that year's International University Games, scoring 3979 points to secure gold ahead of Latvia's Jānis Dimza.[3] Tolamo's world record was broken the following year by javelin thrower Matti Sippala;[2] however, with modern scoring tables Tolamo's score would have remained the record, and it eventually re-emerged as a national pentathlon best, only broken in 2007.[4]

Tolamo legitimately broke the Finnish long jump record in 1933 in a dual meet between Finland and Norway, jumping 7.46 m.[2][5] At that year's International University Games he won silver in the long jump and bronze in the pentathlon.[3] He broke his own national long jump record in September 1934, in another dual meet (between Finland and Germany); he jumped 7.51 m and defeated both Wilhelm Leichum, who had won the European championship the previous week, and future Olympic silver medalist Luz Long.[2] That jump remained the Finnish record until 1954, when Jorma Valkama broke it.[6]

Tolamo returned to the Olympics in 1936, competing in both the decathlon and the long jump.[1] He failed to make the final in the long jump and did not finish in the decathlon.[1]

He was killed in action during World War II.[7]

References

1. "Martti Tolamo Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
2. Jukola, Martti (1935). Huippu-urheilun historia (in Finnish). Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö.
3. "WORLD STUDENT GAMES (PRE-UNIVERSIADE)". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
4. "77-vuotias Suomen ennätys rikottiin 5-ottelussa" (in Finnish). Suomen Urheiluliitto. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
5. Martti Tolamo at Tilastopaja (in Finnish) (registration required)
6. Hakalax, Jari. "Urheiluvuosi 1954" (in Finnish). Suomen Urheilutietäjät. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
7. "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.