 Eero Lehtonen c. 1920 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 21 April 1898 Mikkeli, Finland | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 9 November 1959 (aged 61) Helsinki, Finland | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 78 kg (172 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
| Event | Pentathlon | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Mikkelin Kilpa-Veikot, Mikkeli | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 400 m – 53.0 (1924) LJ – 7.02 m (1920) Pentathlon – 3416 (1924) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Eero Reino Lehtonen (21 April 1898 – 9 November 1959) was a Finnish athlete. He competed at the 1920 Olympics in the pentathlon, long jump and decathlon and at the 1924 Olympics in the pentathlon and 4 × 400 m relay. He won the pentathlon at both Games, but performed poorly in other events. He retired after learning that pentathlon was excluded from the 1928 Olympics.[1]
In 1920 Lehtonen won the national titles in the pentathlon and long jump, setting a new national long jump record at 7.02 m. At the 1920 Olympics he tried decathlon, but gave up after five events. He semi-retired after the Olympics, but returned in 1922, again winning the national long jump and pentathlon titles. At the 1924 Olympic pentathlon competition Robert LeGendre set a world record in the long jump, but Lehtonen did better on average and won the gold medal.[2]
In 1984, a bronze statue of Lehtonen was installed at the sports park in Mikkeli, his home town.[1]
