Greatest Long Distance Runner

Paavo Nurmi of Finland, participant at three Olympics (1920, 1924 and 1928), won in all nine gold and three silver medals and was considered the greatest long-distance runner of the twenties. After his death he was commemorated by the Finnish postal authorities with the issue of a stamp whose subject takes sports lovers back in time to the height of his victories. The stamp designer, P. Huovinen, reproduced the famous sculpture by V. Aaltonen which was placed near the Olympic stadium in Helsinki. It showed this great runner rushing forward with a stopwatch clenched in his fist.

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