Jonni Myyrä Athlete
Joonas "Jonni" Myyrä (July 13, 1892 – January 22, 1955) was a Finnish athlete who competed mainly in the javelin throw. Myyrä was born in Savitaipale. At his first Olympics, the 1912 Summer Olympics, he took 8th place in the javelin. At the 1920 Summer Olympics, Myyrä was resting on the grass before the javelin competition as his left (non-throwing arm) was struck near the elbow by a stray warm-up throw by James Lincoln. Despite considerable pain Myyrä managed to throw 60.63 during the first three rounds, enough to advance him to the evening session. Bone fragments were removed from his arm by a Belgian surgeon. On his fifth throw (second of the evening session) Myyrä threw a new Olympic record of 65.78 meters and clinched the gold. The next places were claimed by Urho Peltonen, Paavo Johansson and Julius Saaristo for a complete Finnish sweep. Myyrä successfully defended his 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. He threw one officially ratified world record in the javelin, 66.10 meters in Stockholm on August 24, 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 thrown in Richmond, Virginia on September 27, 1925. He played in several other events, especially the discus. He took part in this event at the 1920 Olympics but failed to make the final. However, his discus results improved in the United States, culminating in an exhibition throw of 48.80 meters; this too was beyond the official world record at the time.
