Juho Julius Saaristo (21 July 1891 – 12 October 1969) was a
Finnish track and field athlete.
He won two medals at the 1912 Olympics: a silver in conventional javelin throw and gold in the two-handed javelin throw, a one-time Olympic event in which the total was a sum of best throws with the right hand and with the left hand. He finished fourth in the javelin throw at the 1920 Olympics. Saaristo held the Finnish national title in the javelin in 1910, 1911 and 1919.
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Biography
Saaristo was born to Kaarlo Saaristo (Lindholm) and Wilhelmina Lindberg. He studied at the Tampere Industrial School in 1909–12, and from 1912 to 1915, studied machinery and electrical engineering at the Mitweida Technicum and the Strelitz Technicum (now Technical School of Civil Engineering Neustrelitz) in Germany. In 1915, he enlisted in the German Army and was assigned to the 27th Jäger Battalion. He fought in World War I on the Eastern Front at the and the Gulf of Riga
The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia (, , ) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia.
The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main connection between the gulf and t ...
. On 25 February 1918, he returned to Finland and took part in the ongoing 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 ...
as a commanding officer. He then continued serving with the Finnish Army, fought in World War II, and was discharged from service after the war ended. He died of throat cancer, though he was not a smoker himself.[
In 1928, Saaristo married Olga Lydia Honkanen, and they had two sons and adopted a daughter.][
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References
External links
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1891 births
1969 deaths
Athletes from Tampere
Sportspeople from Häme Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)
Finnish military personnel of World War II
Finnish male javelin throwers
Olympic athletes for Finland
Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for Finland
Olympic silver medalists for Finland
Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)
Jägers of the Jäger Movement
Deaths from throat cancer
Deaths from cancer in Finland
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