Jonni Myyrä
Jonni Myyrä at the 1920 Olympics
Personal information
Full nameJoonas Myyrä
Nationality Finland
Born(1892-07-13)13 July 1892
Savitaipale, Viipuri Province, Grand Duchy of Finland
Died22 January 1955(1955-01-22) (aged 62)
San Francisco, United States
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight80 kg (176 lb)
Sport
SportJavelin throw, discus throw, pentathlon
ClubPartakosken Into
Savitaipaleen Urheilijat
Lahden Ahkera
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1920 Antwerp Javelin throw
Gold medal – first place 1924 Paris Javelin throw

Joonas "Jonni" Myyrä (13 July 1892 – 22 January 1955) was a Finnish athlete who competed at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Olympics.[1][2] In 1912, he finished eighth in the javelin throw. At the 1920 Olympics his left arm was fractured in a warm-up accident – the spear thrown by James Lincoln struck Myyrä while he was resting on the grass.[3] Nevertheless, Myyrä won the javelin event with an Olympic record of 65.78 meters. He also finished 12th in the discus throw, but could not complete his pentathlon events. Myyrä successfully defended his javelin title at the 1924 Summer Olympics, and then fled to the United States due to his financial problems in Finland. He never returned to his home country and died in San Francisco in 1955.[4]

He threw one officially ratified world record in the javelin, 66.10 meters in Stockholm[1] on 24 August 1919 and several other performances exceeding the official record at the time that were for various reasons not ratified, including his eventual personal best of 68.55 m achieved in San Francisco on 27 September 1925.[4][5]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jonni Myyrä.
  1. 1 2 "Finn Model for Athletes". The Seattle Star. Seattle, WA. January 1, 1925. p. 13. Retrieved August 31, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ↑ "Jonni Myyrä". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  3. ↑ Arponen, Antti O. (1996). Olympiakisat Ateenasta Atlantaan (in Finnish). WSOY. ISBN 951-0-21072-2.
  4. 1 2 Jonni Myyrä. sports-reference
  5. ↑ "Myrra Shatters Record at S. F." Los Angeles Evening Post Record. Los Angeles, CA. September 28, 1925. p. 11. Retrieved August 31, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon


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