Johan Valdemar "Juho" Halme (born Johan Valdemar Eliasson; 24 May 1888 – 1 February 1918) was a Finnish track and field

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who competed in the

1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...

and

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

and won six Finnish championships in various events in 1907–1916. He died during the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

. He was born and died in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Athletics

Olympics

Halme represented Finland in two Olympic Games.

National

Halme broke two Finnish records in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

: * 16 May 1912, javelin throw, 56.54 * 16 June 1912, triple jump, 13.95 He also became the second Finn to throw javelin over 60 meters. He won six golds in the Finnish Championships in Athletics: * triple jump in 1907, 1910 and 1911 * long jump in 1912 * javelin throw in 1914 * pentathlon in 1916 Halme competed in the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

and finished second behind

Ivar Sahlin Ivar Sahlin (16 December 1895 – 24 November 1980) was a Swedish Track and field, track and field athlete who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics and in the 1924 Summer Olympics. Career Sahlin born in Sundsvall, won the British AAA Ch ...

in the triple jump event and second behind

Mór Kóczán Móric "Mór" Kóczán (; also known under the pseudonym Miklós Kovács; 8 January 1885 – 30 July 1972) was a Slovak–Hungarian Athletics (sport), athlete and Calvinism, Calvinist pastor. Specialized for the throwing events, his best result ...

in the javelin at the 1914 AAA Championships. He was the secretary of Helsingin Reipas in 1906–1907 and the chairman of Helsingin Kisa-Veikot in 1909–1918.

Other

His parents were mason Johan David Eliasson and Amanda Sofia Jusenius. He finnicized his name from Eliasson to Halme in 1905. Halme was the copy editor of '' Suomen Urheilulehti'' in 1912–1917 and the chief executive officer of its publisher Urheilijain Kustannus in 1911–1917. He wrote the first Finnish language history of a sports club in 1907, on Helsingin Reipas. Sportswriter Yrjö Halme was his brother. Together they founded the sports almanac ''Urheilukalenteri''.

Death

Halme had been the manager of sports equipment shop Suomen Urheiluaitta since 1917. In the opening days of the

, clothing and shoes from their stock were distributed to members of the White Guard fleeing Helsinki. In retaliation, Halme was shot on the stairs of the

Helsinki Cathedral Helsinki Cathedral (, ; , ) is the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral of the Diocese of Helsinki, located in the neighborhood of Kruununhaka in the centre of Helsinki, Finland, at the Senate Square. The church was originally built from 1 ...

by Red Guardsmen and died of his wounds in hospital the following day.

References