Frej Liewendahl

Frey Fritiof "Frej" Liewendahl (22 October 1902 – 31 January 1966) was a Finnish track and field athlete. Born in Ã…land with Swedish roots, he had first competed for IFK Mariehamn. He represented Finland at the 1924 Summer Olympics placing eighth in the men's 1500 metres, though was part of the gold medal-winning team in the men's 3000 metres team race.

In 1925, Liewendahl had raced mostly in the United States. The following year, he had broken the five year winning streak of middle-distance runner Paavo Nurmi in a 1000 metres race. Liewendahl was entered to compete at the 1928 Summer Olympics though did not compete in his event. He died on 31 January 1966 in Mariehamn.

Biography

Frey Fritiof "Frej" Liewendahl was born on 22 October 1902 in Jomala, Ã…land, and is of Swedish descent. He initially represented the IFK Mariehamn sports club in races.

At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, he competed in the men's 1500 metres individually. The preliminaries of the event were held on 9 June; he raced against eight other competitors and placed second in his heat with a time of 4:07.4, thus qualifying him for the finals. The finals of the event were held the next day with twelve competitors. He ran a time of 4:00.3 and placed eighth, citing his poor performance be attributed to him suffering from pneumonia while at the games. He was also part of the Finnish relay team for the men's 3000 metres team race that garnered eight points in the final, earning them an Olympic gold medal. He is considered to be the first Olympian from Ã…land.

He switched clubs to represent Pyrkivä Turku. As part of the club, he had broken two world records with the club's 4 × 1500 metres relay team. In 1925, he mostly competed in the United States as part of the Finnish-American Athletic Club. He had to drop out of the Millrose Games' Wannamaker one and a half-mile (2400 m) in 1925 which was won by Joie Ray.

In 1925, Liewendahl had broken the five-year winning streak of fellow middle-distance runner and European champion Paavo Nurmi after he had defeated Nurmi in a 1000 metres race in Väinölänniemi. Sportswriter Sulo Kolkka had opined that Liewendahl felt like he had committed a crime. The morning following the race, Liewendahl went to Nurmi's hotel room with flowers to apologise.

For the lead-up to the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, he worked with the REO Motor Car Company in Finland to distribute cars. At this time, he resided in Mariehamn. He was entered to compete in the men's 800 metres but he did not start in his event as it was stated that he had rejected to adopt a Finnish surname, he instead retired from the sport entirely. In his sporting career, he had also represented HIFK and Turun Urheiluliitto. Liewendahl died on 31 January 1966 at the age of 63 in Mariehamn.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Liewendahl, Frej
1902 births
1966 deaths
People from Jomala
People from Turku and Pori Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)
Finnish male middle-distance runners
Olympic athletes for Finland
Olympic gold medalists for Finland
Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Ã…land
20th-century Finnish sportsmen
Finnish people of Swedish descent