Gustav Sule (10 September 1910 – 3 April 1942) was an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

er. He won bronze in the 1934 European Championships, competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

and at one point ranked second on the all-time world list.

Biography

Sule was born in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

on 10 September 1910. In 1928 he set Estonian high school records not only in the javelin, but also

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

and

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

. Before Sule the Estonian record in the javelin was

Aleksander Klumberg Aleksander Klumberg (since 1936 Kolmpere; 17 April 1899 – 10 February 1958) was an Estonian decathlete. He competed in several events at the 1920 and 1924 Olympics and won a bronze medal in the decathlon in 1924. In 1922, he became the first ...

's 63.32 from 1921; starting in 1930, Sule broke the record six times officially and twice unofficially. In 1931 he threw 69.54, ranking him second in the world that year behind former

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

holder

Eino Penttilä Eino Penttilä (27 August 1906 – 24 November 1982) was a Finnish javelin thrower who won a bronze medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics, behind teammates Matti Järvinen and Matti Sippala. Career Penttlä was a Biathlon competitor who changed ...

. Sule remained one of the world's top throwers in 1932, improving his Estonian record to 69.62. He would have been a medal contender in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, but the

Estonian Olympic Committee The Estonian Olympic Committee (, EOK) is responsible for Estonia's participation in the Olympic Games. History The Estonian Sports Federation () decided to form the Estonian Olympic Committee in the First Estonian Sport Congress () on 30 Novem ...

didn't have enough money for the long trip and Sule, like other Estonian athletes such as

Arnold Viiding Arnold Viiding (19 March 1911 in Valga, Estonia, Valga, Estonia – 20 October 2006 in Sydney, Australia) was an Estonian shot putter and discus thrower. At the 1936 Summer Olympics, he achieved eighth place in the Athletics at the 1936 Summer O ...

, had to stay home. Sule failed to improve his Estonian record in 1933, but his best throw of 69.30 still ranked him fourth in the world that year. At the

1933 International University Games The 1933 International University Games were organised by the Confederation Internationale des Etudiants (CIE) and held in Turin, Italy. Held from 1–10 September, 27 nations competed in nine sports. Women competed only in the athletics (sport), ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

he won the silver medal, losing to Hungary's

József Várszegi József Várszegi (also known as József Vennesz; 7 September 1910, in Győr – 12 June 1977, in Budapest) was a Hungarian athlete who competed in the javelin throw. Among his best results are a European Championships bronze medal from 1938 and ...

but defeating Germany's

Gottfried Weimann Gottfried Weimann (16 September 1907 – 13 March 1990) was a German javelin thrower. He placed fourth at the Olympic Games in 1932 and ninth in 1936. Career Weimann was one of the world's top javelin throwers by 1930, when he threw 66.97& ...

, who had placed fourth at the Olympics. Sule broke through the 70 m barrier in 1934, improving his Estonian record to 71.48 and again placing second on the annual world list. At the inaugural

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

that summer, also held in Turin, he threw 69.31 and placed third behind the top two from the 1932 Olympics, Finland's

Matti Järvinen Matti Henrikki Järvinen (18 February 1909 – 22 July 1985) was a Finnish javelin thrower. He won the Olympic gold medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics ahead of two other Finns, Matti Sippala and Eino Penttilä, with a throw of 72.71 metres. Fo ...

and

Matti Sippala Matti Kalervo Sippala (11 March 1908 – 22 August 1997) was a Finnish athlete. His main event was the javelin throw, in which he won the silver medal at both the 1932 Summer Olympics and the 1934 European Championships, but he was also a goo ...

; he was named Estonia's top athlete that year by the Tallinn Sports Press Club. Sule failed to regain that shape for the next two years, only ranking sixteenth on the world list in 1935 and eleventh in 1936, although he still won a bronze medal at the 1935 International University Games. He competed in the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, but only managed 63.26 and an eleventh place. In 1937 he again broke the Estonian record twice, throwing 72.72 in August and 73.31 in October, and ranked fourth on that year's world list. Sule set his eventual personal best in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

on 20 June 1938, throwing 75.935 m. At the time, that was enough to place him second on the all-time world list, behind only world record holder Järvinen;

Yrjö Nikkanen Jouko Yrjö Nikkanen (31 December 1914 – 18 November 1985) was a Finnish javelin thrower, who won a silver medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics. His best throw of 70.77 meters was only one meter behind that of the gold medalist Gerhard Stöck, an ...

pushed him down to third when he twice broke the world record later that year, but Sule stayed in the all-time top five until 1953. At the

in September 1938 he threw 70.50 m and placed fourth behind Järvinen, Nikkanen and Várszegi, beating his Estonian teammate

Friedrich Issak Friedrich Issak (20 November 1915, Petrograd – 11 May 1991) was an Estonian sportsman and journalist. As a javelin thrower, he won gold and bronze medals at the International University Games and was national champion of Estonia and late ...

by one place. Between 1928 and 1940, Sule was Estonian champion nine times in the javelin and once in the high jump, and won minor medals in the pole vault,

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

and

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

. Weakened by

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, he died on 3 April 1942 while serving in an NKVD labor column.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sule, Gustav 1910 births 1942 deaths Athletes from Tartu People from Kreis Dorpat Estonian male javelin throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Estonia European Athletics Championships medalists Estonian people who died in Soviet detention People who died in the Gulag Deaths from pneumonia in Russia Deaths from pneumonia in the Soviet Union