Akilles Järvinen

Who was Akilles Järvinen?

Akilles Eero Johannes Järvinen was a Finnish athlete and decathlete and Olympic medallist.

Järvinen could be considered one of Finland's most versatile athletes. At the national level, his decathlon records are still competitive. His greatest success was as a decathlete; he won two Olympic silver medals in the event. If the current decathlon points tables had been used, Järvinen would have won the gold medal on both occasion. He also won a silver medal in the 400 m hurdles in the European Championships.

Akilles Järvinen's father, Verner Järvinen, was himself a champion in the 1906 Summer Olympics. The pair had a falling-out when Akilles started dating Annikki Sauli because her father, Jalmari Sauli, had placed ahead of Verner in the shot put at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Akilles' brother Matti Järvinen was an Olympic champion and 10-time world-record breaker in javelin throw.

Akilles died in 1943 when the VL Pyry trainer aircraft that he was flying in and that was piloted by Captain Erkki Pohjanheimo, crashed during a test flight.