Evert Brynolf Jakobsson (16 February 1886 – 16 July 1960) was a Finnish javelin thrower who competed at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an International sport, international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. Th ...

Athletics

Evert Jakobsson with his brother

Jarl Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty k ...

emerged as javelin specialists in the summer of 1906. Their success was based on an alteration on the grip of the javelin. They had stapled two bits of stiff cord on it, improving its support for fingers. The existing world record by

Eric Lemming Eric Otto Valdemar Lemming (22 February 1880 – 5 June 1930) was a Swedish track and field athlete who competed at the 1900, 1906, 1908 and 1912 Olympics in a wide variety of events, which mostly involved throwing and jumping. He had his best ...

was 53.90 metres, but with their enhancement, Evert broke it with 57.42. He travelled to Stockholm in September 1906 to challenge Lemming. Although Lemming was victorious, he duplicated their grip and took back the record with 58.37 metres. At this point, the new grip was banned and all results achieved with it were disqualified, reverting the world record to 53.90.

Other

His parents were master builder Gustaf Jakobsson and Josefina Torck. He married Elsa Alma Elisabet Savander (born 1894) in 1916. They had three children: #

Jack Witikka Jack Witikka (20 December 1916 – 28 January 2002; surname until 1942 ''Jakobsson'') was a Finnish film director and screenwriter. He directed 15 films between 1951 and 1968. His 1961 film ''Little Presents'' was entered into the 12th Berli ...

, born 1916, film director # Inga Elsa, 1918 # Kerstin, 1920 His brother

was another 1908 Olympian. Figure skater

Walter Jakobsson Walter Andreas Jakobsson (6 February 1882 – 10 June 1957) was a Finnish figure skater, and the oldest figure skating Olympic champion (at age 38). As a single skater, he won the Finnish national championship in 1910 and 1911. In 1910, he part ...

, who won Olympic gold in 1920 pair skating, was his cousin. He was in the municipal council of

Haaga Haaga ( sv, Haga köping) is a district and a former municipality in the Western major district of Helsinki with a population of 25,435.http://www.hel2.fi/tietokeskus/helsinki_alueittain_2005/203Haaga.pdf 2005 statistics about Haaga Haaga is d ...

in 1914–1930. He held the rank

vääpeli Vääpeli ( Fältväbel in Swedish) is a Finnish and former Swedish Non-commissioned officer military rank above Ylikersantti (Översergeant) and below Ylivääpeli ( Överfältväbel). The rank is derived from the German rank Feldwebel and wa ...

in the White Guard. He received the following medals: * Commemorative medal of the Liberation War * Medal of Liberty, 1st Class * Civil Guard Medal of Merit * Commemorative Medal of the Winter War * First Class Knight of the White Rose of Finland * Cross of Merit of the Fire Defence

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakobsson, Evert 1886 births 1960 deaths Athletes from Helsinki Finnish male javelin throwers Olympic athletes of Finland Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics