Lassi Parkkinen

Who was Lassi Parkkinen?

Lauri Rikhard Parkkinen was a Finnish speed skater.

Lassi Parkkinen was born in Varkaus, an industrial town in the southeast of Finland. He made his debut at the World Allround Championships in 1938, finishing ninth. He also participated the next year, 1939, in what would turn out to be the last World Championships before World War II, but his results on the first three distances were not good enough to qualify for the final distance. Due to the war, it took eight years before the World Championships were held again. At these first World Championships since World War II, Parkkinen was crowned the 1947 World Champion. His success continued the next year at the 1948 Winter Olympics of St. Moritz, when he won Olympic silver on the 10,000 m.

His final speed skating successes came in 1952 when he won silver at the World Championships and became Finnish Allround Champion for the fifth and last time. He also skated at the 1952 Winter Olympics of Oslo, but his 10,000 m time of 17:36.8 – almost identical to the time that won him silver in 1948 – was only good for the eighth place. His best result at those 1952 Winter Olympics was a sixth place on the 1,500 m.