Finnish cross-country skier
Sulo Nurmela
Sulo Nurmela in 1937
Born 13 February 1908Onkamaa, Miehikkälä , Finland Died 13 August 1999 (aged 91)Hamina , Finland Height 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) Weight 62–69 kg (137–152 lb) Sport Cross-country skiing Club Vehkaladen Veikot
Sulo Nurmela (13 February 1908 – 13 August 1999) was a Finnish cross-country skier . He won a gold medal at the 1936 Winter Olympics in the 4 × 10 km relay and served as the Finnish flag bearer at those games.[ 1] [ 2]
Nurmela won two world titles in 1934: in the individual 18 km and 4 × 10 km relay events. While traveling to Czechoslovakia to the next world championships he became ill with a high fever and had to withdraw from his individual races. Yet he felt obliged to compete in the relay, as Finland had sent only four skiers, and there was no substitute. His first three teammates gained a two-minute lead, and Nurmela managed to finish more than a minute ahead of the competitors and win his third world title.[ 1]
Nurmela won three races in the Lahti Ski Games : 17 km in 1934 and 1937 and 50 km in 1937. He retired after placing eighth over 50 km at the 1938 World Championships. He worked as a farmer most of his life.[ 1]
Cross-country skiing results [ edit ] All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS) .[ 3]
Year Age 18 km 50 km 4 × 10 km relay 1936 28 7 — Gold
World Championships [ edit ] Year Age 18 km 50 km 4 × 10 km relay 1934 26 Gold — Gold 1935 27 — — Gold 1938 30 — 8 —
1936 : Sulo Nurmela , Klaes Karppinen , Matti Lähde , Kalle Jalkanen (FIN ) 1948 : Nils Östensson , Nils Täpp , Gunnar Eriksson , Martin Lundström (SWE ) 1952 : Heikki Hasu , Paavo Lonkila , Urpo Korhonen , Tapio Mäkelä (FIN ) 1956 : Fyodor Terentyev , Pavel Kolchin , Nikolay Anikin , Vladimir Kuzin (URS ) 1960 : Toimi Alatalo , Eero Mäntyranta , Väinö Huhtala , Veikko Hakulinen (FIN ) 1964 : Karl-Åke Asph , Sixten Jernberg , Janne Stefansson , Assar Rönnlund (SWE ) 1968 : Odd Martinsen , Pål Tyldum , Harald Grønningen , Ole Ellefsæter (NOR ) 1972 : Vladimir Voronkov , Yuri Skobov , Fyodor Simashev , Vyacheslav Vedenin (URS ) 1976 : Matti Pitkänen , Juha Mieto , Pertti Teurajärvi , Arto Koivisto (FIN ) 1980 : Vasily Rochev , Nikolay Bazhukov , Yevgeny Belyayev , Nikolay Zimyatov (URS ) 1984 : Thomas Wassberg , Benny Kohlberg , Jan Ottosson , Gunde Svan (SWE ) 1988 : Jan Ottosson , Thomas Wassberg , Gunde Svan , Torgny Mogren (SWE ) 1992 : Terje Langli , Vegard Ulvang , Kristen Skjeldal , Bjørn Dæhlie (NOR ) 1994 : Maurilio De Zolt , Marco Albarello , Giorgio Vanzetta , Silvio Fauner (ITA ) 1998 : Sture Sivertsen , Erling Jevne , Bjørn Dæhlie , Thomas Alsgaard (NOR ) 2002 : Anders Aukland , Frode Estil , Kristen Skjeldal , Thomas Alsgaard (NOR ) 2006 : Fulvio Valbusa , Giorgio Di Centa , Pietro Piller Cottrer , Cristian Zorzi (ITA ) 2010 : Daniel Rickardsson , Johan Olsson , Anders Södergren , Marcus Hellner (SWE ) 2014 : Lars Nelson , Daniel Rickardsson , Johan Olsson , Marcus Hellner (SWE ) 2018 : Didrik Tønseth , Martin Johnsrud Sundby , Simen Hegstad Krüger , Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR ) 2022 : Aleksey Chervotkin , Alexander Bolshunov , Denis Spitsov , Sergey Ustiugov (ROC )
1933: Per-Erik Hedlund , Sven Utterström , Nils-Joel Englund , Hjalmar Bergström 1934: Sulo Nurmela , Klaes Karppinen , Martti Lappalainen , Veli Saarinen 1935: Mikko Husu , Klaes Karppinen , Väinö Liikkanen , Sulo Nurmela 1937: Annar Ryen , Oskar Fredriksen , Sigurd Røen , Lars Bergendahl 1938: Jussi Kurikkala , Martti Lauronen , Pauli Pitkänen , Klaes Karppinen 1939: Pauli Pitkänen , Olavi Alakulppi , Eino Olkinuora , Klaes Karppinen 1950: Nils Täpp , Karl-Erik Åström , Martin Lundström , Enar Josefsson 1954: August Kiuru , Tapio Mäkelä , Arvo Viitanen , Veikko Hakulinen 1958: Sixten Jernberg , Lennart Larsson , Sture Grahn , Per-Erik Larsson 1962: Lars Olsson , Sture Grahn , Sixten Jernberg , Assar Rönnlund 1966: Odd Martinsen , Harald Grønningen , Ole Ellefsæter , Gjermund Eggen 1970: Vladimir Voronkov , Valery Tarakanov , Fyodor Simashev , Vyacheslav Vedenin 1974: Gerd Heßler , Dieter Meinel , Gerhard Grimmer , Gert-Dietmar Klause 1978: Sven-Åke Lundbäck , Christer Johansson , Tommy Limby , Thomas Magnuson 1982: Lars Erik Eriksen , Ove Aunli , Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass , Oddvar Brå 0 and Vladimir Nikitin , Oleksandr Batyuk , Yuriy Burlakov , Alexander Zavyalov 1985: Arild Monsen , Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass , Tor Håkon Holte , Ove Aunli 1987: Erik Östlund , Gunde Svan , Thomas Wassberg , Torgny Mogren 1989: Christer Majbäck , Gunde Svan , Lars Håland , Torgny Mogren 1991: Øyvind Skaanes , Terje Langli , Vegard Ulvang , Bjørn Dæhlie 1993: Sture Sivertsen , Vegard Ulvang , Terje Langli , Bjørn Dæhlie 1995: Sture Sivertsen , Erling Jevne , Bjørn Dæhlie , Thomas Alsgaard 1997: Sture Sivertsen , Erling Jevne , Bjørn Dæhlie , Thomas Alsgaard 1999: Markus Gandler , Alois Stadlober , Mikhail Botvinov , Christian Hoffmann 2001: Frode Estil , Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset , Thomas Alsgaard , Tor Arne Hetland 2003: Anders Aukland , Frode Estil , Tore Ruud Hofstad , Thomas Alsgaard 2005 : Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset , Frode Estil , Lars Berger , Tore Ruud Hofstad 2007 : Eldar Rønning , Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset , Lars Berger , Petter Northug 2009 : Eldar Rønning , Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset , Tore Ruud Hofstad , Petter Northug 2011 : Martin Johnsrud Sundby , Eldar Rønning , Tord Asle Gjerdalen , Petter Northug 2013 : Tord Asle Gjerdalen , Eldar Rønning , Sjur Røthe , Petter Northug 2015 : Niklas Dyrhaug , Didrik Tønseth , Anders Gløersen , Petter Northug 2017 : Didrik Tønseth , Niklas Dyrhaug , Martin Johnsrud Sundby , Finn Hågen Krogh 2019 : Emil Iversen , Martin Johnsrud Sundby , Sjur Røthe , Johannes Høsflot Klæbo 2021 : Pål Golberg , Emil Iversen , Hans Christer Holund , Johannes Høsflot Klæbo 2023 : Hans Christer Holund , Pål Golberg , Simen Hegstad Krüger , Johannes Høsflot Klæbo