Arvo Leander Lindén, later Linko (27 February 1887 – 18 March 1941) was a Finnish wrestler who won an Olympic bronze medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1908.

Arvo Lindén
Arvo Lindén circa 1907
Personal information
Birth nameArvo Leander Lindén
Full nameArvo Leander Linko
NicknameFoxterrieri
National teamFinland
Born(1887-02-27)27 February 1887
Tampere, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died18 March 1941(1941-03-18) (aged 54)
Helsinki, Finland
Occupation(s)Shoemaker, postman, night watchman
Height166 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)
Sport
SportGreco-Roman wrestling, diving
Weight classLightweight
Club
Turned pro1923
Coached byIivari Tuomisto (wrestling)
Medal record
Representing Russia Finland
Men's Greco-Roman wrestling
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1908 London Lightweight

Wrestling

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Lindén began wrestling at the age of eleven, and competitively in 1904, when he won the Häme Province lightweight championship.[1]

He won Finnish wrestling championship in Greco-Roman under 60 kg class in 1908.[2][3]

He won bronze at the 1908 Olympics, which was a single-elimination tournament:

Arvo Lindén at the 1908 Summer Olympics Greco-Roman lightweight[4]
Round Opponent Result
First round   Lucien Hansen (BEL) Win by fall at 2:33
Second round   Carl Carlsen (DEN) Win by fall at 4:15
Quarter-finals   Anders Møller (DEN) Win by fall at 13:32
Semi-finals   Nikolay Orlov (RU1) Loss by points
Third place (best out of three)   Gunnar Persson (SWE) Win by fall at 0:50
Win by fall at 2:25  

His Olympic medal was auctioned for 3 500 euros in 2015.[5]

He won the Russian championship twice. In 1909, it was split between him, Emil Väre and Nikolay Orlov. In 1910, he won it exclusively.[6]

Soon after, neuropathic pain forced him to retire from wrestling.[7]

He returned to wrestling by taking part in professional events in Port Arthur, Ontario in 1923, training and coaching at the Nahjus Athletic Club.[8]

Diving

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He won the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation championship in plain platform jumps in 1929.[9][10]

Sources

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  • Siukonen, Markku (2001). Urheilukunniamme puolustajat. Suomen olympiaedustajat 1906–2000. Suuri olympiateos (in Finnish). Vol. 12. Jyväskylä: Graface. p. 182. ISBN 978-951-98673-1-1.
  • Arvo Lindén at Olympedia (archive)

References

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  1. ^ M-o-n-i (1939). Suomalaisia mestaripainijoita (in Finnish). Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. pp. 67–69.
  2. ^ Virtamo, Keijo; et al., eds. (1976). Fokus urheilu 2 (in Finnish) (4th ed.). Helsinki: Otava Publishing Company. p. 276. ISBN 951-1-00331-3.
  3. ^ "1905-1909" (PDF). Suomen Painiliitto. Miesten kreikkalais-roomalaisen painin SM-kisojen tulokset 1898 - 2019 (in Finnish). Helsinki. p. 1. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  4. ^ Cook, Theodore Andrea (1909). The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 Official Report (PDF). London: British Olympic Association. pp. 331–333. Retrieved 26 March 2019 – via LA84 Foundation.
  5. ^ Mäkinen, Petteri (10 March 2015). "Ostaja: "En tiedä, onko edullinen vai ei" – Näin paljon huudettiin vuoden 1908 olympiamitalista". Tamperelainen (in Finnish). Tampere. ISSN 0355-421X. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  6. ^ M-o-n-i (1939). Suomalaisia mestaripainijoita (in Finnish). Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. p. 71.
  7. ^ M-o-n-i (1939). Suomalaisia mestaripainijoita (in Finnish). Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. p. 72.
  8. ^ Hatton, C. Nathan (2018). "Wrestling, Immigration, and Working-Class Culture: The Finns of the Thunder Bay District before 1939". In Beaulieu, Michael S.; Ratz, David K.; Harpelle, Ronald N. (eds.). Hard Work Conquers All. Building the Finnish Community in Canada. Vancouver, Toronto: UBCPress. pp. 113–115. ISBN 978-0-7748-3468-1.
  9. ^ Juune (12 August 1929). "TUL:n uintimestaruus..." Työn Ääni (in Finnish). Vaasa: Oy Työn Ääni. p. 3. Retrieved 27 March 2019 – via Digital Collections of National Library of Finland.
  10. ^ Virtamo, Keijo; et al., eds. (1976). Fokus urheilu 2 (in Finnish) (4th ed.). Helsinki: Otava Publishing Company. p. 395. ISBN 951-1-00331-3.
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