Verner Weckman
![]() Weckman, c. early 1900’s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Johan Verner Weckman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | Finland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Loviisa, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire | 26 July 1882|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 22 February 1968 Helsinki, Finland | (aged 85)|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Resting place | Hietaniemi Cemetery, Helsinki | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monument(s) | Memorial relief in Loviisa, by Matti Haupt, 1963 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Education | Master of Science in Engineering, mechanical (1907) and electrical (1908) engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Plant manager, chief executive officer, technical director | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 85–90 kg (187–198 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouses |
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Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Greco-Roman wrestling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club |
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Medal record
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Johan Verner Weckman (26 July 1882 – 22 February 1968) was a wrestler, who is the first Finnish Olympic gold medalist.[1]
Wrestling
[edit]He was inspired to take up wrestling at the age of 15. He joined the club Helsingfors Gymnastikklubben in 1902, then moved to Helsingin Atleettiklubi in 1903.[2] He won the Finnish national Greco-Roman heavyweight championship in 1904.[3][4] Then he moved to Germany, where he joined the club Germania Karlsruhe.[5]
He won the unofficial Greco-Roman heavyweight world title in Duisburg in 1905.[6]
Weckman was the initiating force behind Finland sending a team to the 1906 Intercalated Games. He was being pressured by the German Imperial committee for Olympic Games to change citizenship and to join the German team, but Weckman insisted on representing Finland. He found a private financial supporter, and four Finnish competitors travelled to Athens.[5][7] He won gold in his class:
Event | Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Middleweight[8] | First round | ![]() |
Win |
Quarter-finals | ![]() |
Win | |
Semi-finals | ![]() |
Win | |
Final | ![]() |
Win ![]() | |
All-around[9] | First bout | Bye | |
Second bout | ![]() |
Loss ![]() |
The all-around event was exclusively for class-winners, and no physical medals were awarded for the three participants.[10]
He was nominated into the 1908 Finnish Olympic team without trials.[11]
Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|
First round | Bye | |
Second round | ![]() |
Win by fall at 1:53 |
Quarter-finals | ![]() |
Win by fall at 4:10 |
Semi-finals | ![]() |
Win by fall at 5:35 |
Final (best out of three) | ![]() |
Loss by fall at 4:22 |
Win by fall at 5:07 | ||
Win by fall at 16:10 ![]() |
According to rumours, Weckman bribed Saarela to throw the final.[13] Modern sportswriters Arto Teronen and Jouko Vuolle consider there to be plenty of circumstantial evidence in favour.[14]
He retired from wrestling after the 1908 games.[14]
Weckman is the first Finn to win an Olympic gold, both including and excluding the Intercalated Games,[15] and the first Finnish wrestler to win a world championship, although unofficially.[16] Weckman also joked that he was the first Russian Olympic winner, when he met with Soviets during negotiations for the Finnish war reparations to the Soviet Union.[17]
He donated his gold medals to the Sports Museum of Finland.[18]
Business career
[edit]He completed his matriculation exam at the Helsinki Swedish Real Lyceum in 1902 and then studied at the Helsinki Polytechnical Institute.[17] He moved abroad in 1904 to avoid conscription. He studied briefly in ETH Zurich and then moved to Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.[5]
Weckman graduated as a Master of Science in mechanical engineering in 1907 and electrical engineering in 1908. He briefly served in Westinghouse Electric Corporation in France in 1909, and then worked as a technical director in asbestos mining in the Ural Mountains until 1921. Then he returned to Finland, where he worked at the Kaapelitehdas, first as a technical director in 1921–1937, then its chief executive officer in 1937–1955.[19] He remained in the company board after retirement.[20]
He was a deputy board member of The Finnish Employers' Confederation in 1942–1947[21] and board member in metal industry and engineering associations.[19]
Accolades
[edit]He is an honorary chairman of Helsingin Atleettiklubi.[19]
He was awarded the honorary title vuorineuvos in 1953.[22][23]
He received the following honorary awards:[19]
- Order of the Cross of Liberty, 2nd and 3rd class
- Commander, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland[24]
- Commemorative Medal of the Winter War
- The medal for protesters against Russian military draft 1905–1906
- Cross of Merit, in gold, of the Finnish Sports
There is a memorial dedicated to him in his birth town Loviisa. Made by Matti Haupt in 1963, Olympic rings were added to it in 2010.[25]
Talouselämä magazine listed Weckman among the 100 most significant business executives of Finland's history in 2012.[26]
Family
[edit]His parents were farm owner Anders Weckman and Fredrika Johansson.
His first marriage was to Ingrid Suoma Regina Svedberg (1889–1947) in 1910. They had two children:
- Gunnel Ingrid Emilia (1914–)
- Per Verner Anders (1916–)
He became a widow in 1947, and married Dagmar Maria Falin (former Lund) (1894–) in 1948.[27]
References
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^ "Verner Weckman". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
- ^ M-o-n-i (1939). Suomalaisia mestaripainijoita (in Finnish). Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. p. 53.
- ^ Virtamo, Keijo; et al., eds. (1976). Fokus urheilu 2 (in Finnish) (4th ed.). Helsinki: Otava Publishing Company. p. 276. ISBN 951-1-00331-3.
- ^ "1898-1904" (PDF). Suomen Painiliitto. Miesten kreikkalais-roomalaisen painin SM-kisojen tulokset 1898 - 2019 (in Finnish). Helsinki. p. 2. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- ^ a b c Sjöblom, Kenth (2006). "Olympiaseikkailu Suomen ensimmäisten olympiaedustajien matka Ateenaan 1906". In Forsén, Björn; Sironen, Erkki (eds.). Kadonnut Kreikka. Suomalaisten matkakuvauksia ennen massaturismia. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran toimituksia (in Finnish). Helsinki: The Finnish Literature Society. pp. 181–183. ISBN 951-746-696-X. ISSN 0355-1768.
- ^ "unofficial World Championship Greco-Roman Seniors 1905-06-11 Duisburg (ALL) > 85.0 kg". Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland: United World Wrestling. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
- ^ Björkman, Ingmar (December 2006). "Finland" (PDF). Journal of Olympic History. 14 (3). International Society of Olympic Historians: 34. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- ^ Mallon, Bill (2009). The 1906 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. McFarland. pp. 150–152. ISBN 9780786440672.
- ^ Mallon, Bill (2009). The 1906 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. McFarland. p. 153. ISBN 9780786440672.
- ^ Vettenniemi, Erkki (2007). Pohjolan helleenit. Suomalaisten olympiaurheilujen synty [The northern Hellas. Origins of Finnish olympic sports]. Historiallisia tutkimuksia (in Finnish). Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society. p. 278. ISBN 978-951-746-934-0. ISSN 0073-2559.
- ^ Erola, Lasse (2016). Suomalaisten olympiavoittojen tarinat (in Finnish). Helsinki: Paasilinna. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-952-299-110-2.
- ^ Cook, Theodore Andrea (1909). The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 Official Report (PDF). London: British Olympic Association. pp. 335–337. Retrieved 26 March 2019 – via LA84 Foundation.
- ^ Lintala, Esko (1984). Yrjö Saarela — painimattojen aristokraatti (in Finnish). Oulu: Lions Club Oulu-Oulujoki. pp. 45–46. ISBN 951-99570-3-0.
- ^ a b Teronen, Arto; Vuolle, Jouko (2013). Urheilun tunteita ja tarinoita. Kiveen hakatut (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kirjapaja. pp. 212–213. ISBN 978-952-247-437-7.
- ^ Siukonen, Markku (2001). Urheilukunniamme puolustajat. Suomen olympiaedustajat 1906–2000. Suuri olympiateos (in Finnish). Jyväskylä: Graface. p. 369. ISBN 951-98673-1-7.
- ^ Järvinen, Eino (1977). 70 vuotta suomalaista painia 1906–1976 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Finnish Wrestling Federation. pp. 107–120.
- ^ a b Häikiö, Martti (2001). Nokia Oyj:n historia (in Finnish). Vol. 1. Fuusio. Helsinki: Edita. pp. 72–73. ISBN 951-37-3327-0.
- ^ Rantamaa, Antti J., ed. (1954). Olympiavoittajien testamentti. Kahdenkymmenenkuuden suomalaisen olympiavoittajan harjoitusneuvoja ja elämänohjeita nuorisolle (in Finnish). Pellervo. p. 21.
- ^ a b c d Suomen liikemiehiä. Talouselämämme miesten elämäkertoja 1948 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Suomen kirja. 1948. p. 713.
- ^ Cronström, Eige; et al. (1965). Puoli vuosisataa kaapeliteollisuutta 1912–1962 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Suomen kaapelitehdas osakeyhtiö. p. 196.
- ^ Mansner, Markku (1984). Suomalaista yhteiskuntaa rakentamassa. Suomen työnantajain keskusliitto 1940–1956 [The Finnish Employers' Confederation 1940–1956] (in Finnish). Helsinki: Teollisuuden kustannus. p. 532. ISBN 951-9240-75-6.
- ^ "Suomalaiset talouden alan arvonimellä palkitut". Biografiakeskus (in Finnish). Finnish Literature Society.
- ^ Teronen, Arto; Vuolle, Jouko (2013). Urheilun tunteita ja tarinoita. Kiveen hakatut (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kirjapaja. p. 206. ISBN 978-952-247-437-7.
- ^ Castrén, Klaus (1970). Korkeimpien suomalaisten kunniamerkkien haltijat 1918–1969 (in Finnish). Tietosanakirja. p. 52.
- ^ Paappanen, Outi (23 February 2011). "Verner Weckman rengastettiin vihdoin". Uusimaa (in Finnish). ISSN 0357-1858. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
- ^ "Tässä ovat Suomen historian 100 merkittävintä yritysjohtajaa". Talouselämä (in Finnish). Helsinki: Alma Talent Oy. 30 November 2012. ISSN 0356-5106. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^ Soukola, Timo; Häikiö, Martti (2007). "Weckman, Verner". In Klinge, Matti; Mäkelä-Alitalo, Anneli; et al. (eds.). Suomen kansallisbiografia. Studia biographica (in Finnish). Vol. 10. Trana–Österman. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society. pp. 384–385. ISBN 978-951-746-451-2. ISSN 1456-2138.
- 1882 births
- 1968 deaths
- People from Loviisa
- Sportspeople from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)
- Olympic wrestlers for Finland
- Wrestlers at the 1906 Intercalated Games
- Wrestlers at the 1908 Summer Olympics
- Finnish male sport wrestlers
- Olympic gold medalists for Finland
- Olympic silver medalists for Finland
- Nokia people
- Olympic medalists in wrestling
- Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games
- World Wrestling Championships medalists
- Sportspeople from Uusimaa
- 19th-century Finnish people
- 20th-century Finnish people