Paavo Nurmi wins vote for best athletic sculpture

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By Matti Markkola
     
      “The Paavo Nurmi statue is the best, just like the model for the statue, and his achievements”, says Martti Väänänen, expressing the view of the majority of those taking part in the vote.
      On its website, Helsingin Sanomat solicited its readers for opinions on what sculpture best depicts a Finnish athlete. The Paavo Nurmi statue, sculpted by Wäinö Aaltonen, won overwhelmingly. The runner statue, which stands next to Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium got 50 per cent of the votes that were cast.
      The statue was praised by the participants as beautiful, pure in style, and timeless. According to Eino Lindholm, the steps of the “Flying Finn” will tell even to someone who does not understand, that the sculptor admires this athlete. One anonymous voter complained that Nurmi would probably win the vote because his statue is the most famous, although it is not necessarily the most beautiful.
     
There was a tight competition for second place between the statues of Gunnar Bärlund and Helena Takalo. The former came out ahead of the latter 13 per cent to 12.
      Voters praised the brutal roughness of the statue depicting boxer Bärlund. Takalo’s nude skier was praised as unusually natural and beautiful.
      Taking last place in the vote was an abstract work dedicated to gymnast Heikki Savolainen in Kajaani. Nevertheless, it is not necessarily the ugliest piece of athletic sculpture in Finland. Taking part in the vote were just nine of the most interesting statues around Finland.
     
There were some protests about some of the statues that were not included among the entries. Some readers felt that the statue of Hannes Kolehmainen in Kuopio, that of Veikko Hakulinen in Valkeakoski and one of Ville Ritola in Peräseinäjoki should definitely have been included.
      Finns certainly have a penchant for sculptures of athletes. There might even be more statues put up for sportsmen and women than for cultural figures.
      Taking part in the vote on the Helsingin Sanomat website were 1,791 respondents.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 1.8.2010


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Sportsmen set in stone in the capital (17.11.2009)

Links:
  Gunnar Bärlund (Wikipedia)
  Paavo Nurmi (Wikipedia)
  Helena Takalo (Wikipedia)

MATTI MARKKOLA / Helsingin Sanomat
matti.markkola@hs.fi