[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” admin_label=”Page Header” module_class=”hero–section” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” background_image=”\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Paavo-Nurmi-Amerikan-Kiertue-1929.jpg” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”THE AMERICAN TOUR OF 1925″ text_orientation=”center” header_fullscreen=”on” button_one_url=”#” button_two_url=”#” admin_label=”Hero Section” module_class=”fw–header” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” background_enable_color=”off” custom_button_one=”on” custom_button_two=”on” module_alignment=”left” button_one_text_color_hover=”#6eba01″ button_two_text_color_hover=”#6eba01″ button_one_border_color_hover=”#ffffff” button_two_border_color_hover=”#ffffff” button_one_border_radius_hover=”0″ button_two_border_radius_hover=”0″ button_one_letter_spacing_hover=”2″ button_two_letter_spacing_hover=”2″ button_one_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” button_two_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_fullwidth_header][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”content–section no–padding” module_class=”content–section small–padding–top small–padding–bottom” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” animation_direction=”bottom” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ make_equal=”on” admin_label=”content–row fullwidth–row no–padding” module_class=”content–row fullwidth–row no–padding ” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width_tablet=”100%” width_phone=”100%” width_last_edited=”off|desktop” max_width_tablet=”100%” max_width_phone=”100%” max_width_last_edited=”off|desktop” make_fullwidth=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ module_class=”special–content–column” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” background_enable_image=”off” background_position=”top_left” custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_cta button_url=”#” module_class=”ela” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” use_background_color=”off” custom_button=”on” text_orientation=”left” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” animation_direction=”bottom” text_orientation_tablet=”center” text_orientation_phone=”center” text_orientation_last_edited=”on|desktop” button_text_color_hover=”#6eba01″ button_border_color_hover=”#6eba01″ button_border_radius_hover=”0″ button_letter_spacing_hover=”2″ button_bg_color_hover=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”]<\/p>\n
As soon as Paavo Nurmi had established himself as the leading long-distance runner of the world, American athletics officials became anxious to have him run at the track circuits of the New World. They first approached Nurmi in November 1922, but their plans were postponed first by Nurmi\u2019s studies at the Industrial School of Helsinki and later by his preparation for the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924. After his triumphs in Paris Nurmi\u2019s market value only increased in the eyes of American track promoters. In November 1924 Nurmi finally embarked on the journey across the Atlantic, accompanied by his loyal masseur Eino Hakoniemi. Conditions aboard the s\/s Celtic were not ideal for training. Nurmi later described his trip: \u201cI trained every day on board. Or, actually, at night under poor electric lighting. At daytime I was too ashamed and in the morning hours I didn\u2019t dare because the stewards were already up.\u201d The Celtic arrived in New York on 10 December 1924. Hundreds of Finnish-Americans had flocked to the harbor to welcome their champion. There was an official reception at City Hall, and Mayor Hylan offered Nurmi the ceremonial key to the city.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_cta][et_pb_cta title=”IN SMOKE AND ROAR” button_url=”#” admin_label=”IN SMOKE AND ROAR” module_class=”ela tertiary-bg” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” use_background_color=”off” custom_button=”on” text_orientation=”left” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” animation_direction=”bottom” text_orientation_tablet=”center” text_orientation_phone=”center” text_orientation_last_edited=”on|tablet” button_text_color_hover=”#6eba01″ button_border_color_hover=”#6eba01″ button_border_radius_hover=”0″ button_letter_spacing_hover=”2″ button_bg_color_hover=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”]<\/p>\n
Nurmi\u2019s \u201ctrainer, coach and advisor\u201d in America was Hugo Qvist, the chairman of the Finnish-American Athletic Club of New York. He lived at first at Qvist\u2019s home in the Bronx but soon moved to a more secluded place to avoid journalists and eager fans. Nurmi started to train hard for the grueling circuit ahead. After a two-and-a-half-week spell of outdoor exercises he had one more week to get used to indoor tracks.<\/p>\n
Madison Square Garden was sold out for Nurmi\u2019s first race on 6 January 1925. The 160-yard track of the Garden was considered the fastest in America, as Nurmi would himself later concur. The air was thick with cigar smoke but Nurmi only found that invigorating. The promoters had devised a re-run of Nurmi\u2019s famous exploit in Paris: Nurmi would run two races, one mile and 5000 metres, inside an hour. In the mile-race, the Americans Joie Ray and Lloyd Hahn seemed to pull to victory, but Nurmi catched both of them and crossed the finish line in new indoor world record time of 4:13.5. The start of the 5000 meters was somewhat delayed due to eager photographers. As in Paris, Nurmi now faced Ville Ritola. Running in his home town, Ritola kept early pace, but 200 meters to go Nurmi launched an irresistible sprint and clocked the time of 14:44.6 \u2013 another indoor world record!<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_cta][et_pb_cta title=”COAST TO COAST, RACE TO RACE” button_url=”#” admin_label=”COAST TO COAST, RACE TO RACE” module_class=”ela” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” use_background_color=”off” custom_button=”on” text_orientation=”left” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” animation_direction=”bottom” text_orientation_tablet=”center” text_orientation_phone=”center” text_orientation_last_edited=”on|desktop” button_text_color_hover=”#6eba01″ button_border_color_hover=”#6eba01″ button_border_radius_hover=”0″ button_letter_spacing_hover=”2″ button_bg_color_hover=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”]<\/p>\n
Nurmi had not thought of spending the whole winter in America, but after his brilliant opening night invitations poured from every corner of the country. All in all, Nurmi was to run 55 races during his tour, and in between he gave numerous running exhibitions at schools, universities and military barracks. Traveling and PR commitments took greater toll of Nurmi than racing ever did. He traveled from coast to coast, from Boston to San Francisco, with a couple of trips to Canada in between. All in all, he covered 50,000 kilometres in four months, mostly by train or automobile. As indoor track meets mostly took place late at night and Nurmi\u2019s race, always scheduled as the main event, usually started close to midnight, he could not go to sleep until the early hours. Considering the circumstances, Nurmi\u2019s balance sheet was incredible: he won 51 of his 55 races (45 indoors, 10 outdoors), abandoned one race and lost only three (two of his defeats were in handicap races). He set 12 new indoor world records in regular distances and many more in rarer events. Nurmi suffered his only scratch-race defeat in his last race, an 880-yard sprint on 26 May in Yankee Stadium, New York to Alan Helffrich, the fastest half-miler of the hemisphere. Out of politeness, one newspaper article claimed.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_cta][et_pb_cta title=”WHY DID AMERICANS TAKE NOTE?” button_url=”#” admin_label=”WHY DID AMERICANS TAKE NOTE?” module_class=”ela tertiary-bg” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” use_background_color=”off” custom_button=”on” text_orientation=”left” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” animation_direction=”bottom” text_orientation_tablet=”center” text_orientation_phone=”center” text_orientation_last_edited=”on|tablet” button_text_color_hover=”#6eba01″ button_border_color_hover=”#6eba01″ button_border_radius_hover=”0″ button_letter_spacing_hover=”2″ button_bg_color_hover=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”]<\/p>\n
Why did Paavo Nurmi\u2019s American tour gain so much publicity as it did? How did the \u201cPhantom Finn\u201d, quiet and reclusive, capture the imagination of the American public in the roaring twenties, in the era of charleston, jazz and speakeasies, if only for a short time? Nurmi himself did not seek any undue attention: during the whole tour, he did not give a single interview \u2013 he never did. Once at home, he was awarded high national honours by the President of Finland as a matter of course, but why did President Calvin Coolidge want to meet the Finnish runner?<\/p>\n
From January to March 1925 the New York Times published over 70 articles on Nurmi\u2019s tour, and smaller papers followed the lead. Media attention and Nurmi\u2019s popularity fed each other: he made news as long as he sold news, and vice versa. Nurmi himself had a perceptive eye on America: \u201cYou can see a newspaper in everyone\u2019s hands, but they read only sports pages and then toss the paper away.\u201d In winter 1929 Nurmi made a second American tour. The publicity was there again, but this time his schedule was much more modest. Later in life, Paavo Nurmi visited the United States several times, always as a celebrated guest.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_cta][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ admin_label=”fullwidth–column–grid–padding” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” background_enable_color=”off” background_position=”top_left” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pn_Amerikan-kiertue-1925_1.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” module_class=”ela–image” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pn_Amerikan-kiertue-1925_2_2.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” module_class=”ela–image” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pn_Amerikan-kiertue-1929.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” module_class=”ela–image” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pn_New-York-1929_1.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” module_class=”ela–image” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pn_Paavo-Nurmi_New-York_1966.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” module_class=”ela–image” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As soon as Paavo Nurmi had established himself as the leading long-distance runner of the world, American athletics officials became anxious to have him run at the track circuits of the New World. They first approached Nurmi in November 1922, but their plans were postponed first by Nurmi\u2019s studies at the Industrial School of Helsinki […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-836","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n