Editing Paavo Nurmi (section)

===1932 Olympics and later career===
Less than three days before the [[Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 10,000 metres|10,000 m]], a special commission of the IAAF, consisting of the same seven members that had suspended Nurmi, rejected the Finn's entries and barred him from competing in Los Angeles.<ref name="Telegraph Herald 2">{{cite news | first=Alan | last=Gould | newspaper=[[Telegraph Herald]] | title=Paavo Nurmi barred from Olympic meet | date=29 July 1932 | page=11 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kONFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3666,6782915&dq=nurmi&hl=en | access-date=20 August 2012}}</ref> [[Sigfrid Edström]], the Swedish chairman of the Council of the International Association of Athletics Federations (s.o. the board of directors), pushed independently and without receiving the support of the rules of the International Association of Athletics Federations for a decision to ban Nurmi from participating in the Los Angeles Olympics at the IAAF board meeting without consulting the Finnish Sports Federation (SUL) and Nurmi on 3.4.<ref>Nurmi uncompetitive. Helsingin Sanomat, 4.4.1932, p. 1. HS Aikakone (for subscribers only). Retrieved 2021-09-24.</ref> and 7/30/1932.<ref>Nurmi is not allowed to run at the Olympics. Helsingin Sanomat, 30.7.1932, p. 4. HS Aikakone (subscribers only). Retrieved 2021-09-24.</ref> [The rules for disqualification of an athlete were made only after the Olympics at the Congress (General Assembly) of the International Sports Federation (IAAF), where Edström and Bo Ekelund, secretary of the council, represented Sweden. The report for Nurmi's ban came from [[Avery Brundage]], president of the American Sports Federation.]<ref>The truth about the Nurmi story and how to drive it in America. Helsingin Sanomat, 8.9.1932, p. 4, 7. HS Aikakone (subscribers only). Retrieved 2021-09-24.</ref><ref>The truth about the Nurmi story and how to drive it in America. Helsingin Sanomat, 9.9.1932, p. 4. HS Aikakone (for subscribers only). Retrieved 2021-09-24.</ref>
Edström stated that the full congress of the IAAF, which was scheduled to start the next day, could not reinstate Nurmi for the Olympics but merely review the phases and political angles related to the case.<ref name="Telegraph Herald 2"/> The AP called this "one of the slickest political maneuvers in international athletic history", and wrote that the Games would now be "like Hamlet without the celebrated Dane in the cast."<ref name="Reading Eagle">{{cite news | newspaper=[[Reading Eagle]] | title=Great Nurmi barred from Olympic Games as teams prepare for big carnival | date=29 July 1932 | page=19 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e-MxAAAAIBAJ&pg=3775,4294563&dq=paavo-nurmi&hl=en | access-date=20 August 2012}}</ref> Thousands protested against the action in Helsinki.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=[[The Vancouver Sun]] | title=Finns Are Fretful Over Nurmi's Case | date=30 July 1932 | page=16 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Iy5lAAAAIBAJ&pg=4960,3056935&dq=paavo-nurmi&hl=en | access-date=20 August 2012}}</ref> Details of the case were not released to the press, but the evidence against Nurmi was believed be the sworn statements from German race promoters that Nurmi had received $250–500 per race when running in Germany in autumn 1931.<ref name="Reading Eagle"/> The statements were produced by [[Karl Ritter von Halt]], after Edström had sent him increasingly threatening letters warning that if evidence against Nurmi were not provided he would be "unfortunately obliged to take stringent action against the [[Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband|German Athletics Association]]."{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=280}} The IOC did not follow their own rules for disqualification for not being a non-amateur Olympic participant. The rulebook for the 1912&nbsp;Olympics stated that protests had to be made "within 30&nbsp;days from the closing ceremonies of the games."<ref>["usoc"]</ref>

On the eve of the [[Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon|marathon]], all the entrants of the race except for the Finns, whose positions were known, filed a petition asking Nurmi's entry to be accepted.<ref name="HS 1932">{{cite news | first=Urho | last=Kekkonen | author-link=Urho Kekkonen | newspaper=[[Helsingin Sanomat]] | title=Totuus Nurmen jutusta ja sen ajamisesta Amerikassa | trans-title=The truth about Nurmi's story and how things were handled in America | date=9 September 1932 |url=http://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/11344/TMP.objres.4306.html?sequence=1 | access-date=20 August 2012 | language=fi}}</ref> Edström's right-hand man [[Bo Ekelund]], secretary general of the IAAF and head of the Swedish Athletics Federation, approached the Finnish officials and stated that he might be able to arrange for Nurmi to participate in the marathon outside the competition.<ref name="HS 1932"/> However, Finland maintained that as long as the athlete is not declared a professional, he must have the right to participate in the race officially.<ref name="HS 1932"/> Although he had been diagnosed with a pulled Achilles tendon two weeks earlier,<ref>{{cite news | first=Arthur J. | last=Daley  | author-link=Arthur Daley (sportswriter) | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | title=Nurmi Is Ordered to Rest His Leg; Dr. Martin Diagnoses Injury to Finnish Runner as a Pulled Achilles Tendon | date=21 July 1932 | page=20 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F1EF93A5A13738DDDA80A94DF405B828FF1D3 | access-date=22 August 2012}}</ref> Nurmi stated he would have won the event by five minutes.<ref name="Urheilumuseo"/> The congress concluded without Nurmi being declared a professional, but the council's authority to disbar an athlete was upheld on a 13–12 vote.<ref name="Reading Eagle 2">{{cite news | newspaper=[[Reading Eagle]] | title=Paavo Nurmi probably through as amateur | date=10 August 1932 | page=9 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rZghAAAAIBAJ&pg=3932,1305594&dq=paavo-nurmi&hl=en | access-date=20 August 2012}}</ref> However, due to the close vote, the matter was postponed until the 1934 meet in [[Stockholm]].<ref name="Reading Eagle 2"/> Finns charged that the Swedish officials had used devious tricks in their campaign against Nurmi's amateur status,<ref name="HS 2008">{{cite news | newspaper=[[Helsingin Sanomat]] | title=Finland and Sweden renew old rivalry on the athletics track this weekend | date=29 August 2008 | url=http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Finland+and+Sweden+renew+old+rivalry+on+the+athletics+track+this+weekend/1135239039050 | access-date=20 August 2012 | archive-date=11 June 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611035901/http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Finland+and+Sweden+renew+old+rivalry+on+the+athletics+track+this+weekend/1135239039050 | url-status=dead }}</ref> and ceased all athletic relations with Sweden.<ref>{{cite news | first=Juhani | last=Jalava | newspaper=[[Turun Sanomat]] | title=1925–1935: Yleisurheilu sai Suomen liikkeelle | trans-title=1925–1935: Athletics got the Finnish launch | date=15 March 2005 | url=http://www.ts.fi/erikoissivut/ts+100/1905-2005/1074031520/19251935+Yleisurheilu+sai+Suomen+liikkeelle | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130213102100/http://www.ts.fi/erikoissivut/ts+100/1905-2005/1074031520/19251935+Yleisurheilu+sai+Suomen+liikkeelle | url-status=dead | archive-date=13 February 2013 | access-date=16 September 2012 | language=fi }}</ref> A year earlier, controversies on the track and in the press had led Finland to withdraw from the [[Finland-Sweden athletics international]].{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=289}} After Nurmi's suspension, Finland did not agree to return to the event until 1939.<ref name="HS 2008"/>

Nurmi refused to turn professional,<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=[[The StarPhoenix|Saskatoon Star-Phoenix]] | title=Won't Turn | date=28 December 1932 | page=10 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y6dkAAAAIBAJ&pg=2210,5665322&dq=paavo-nurmi&hl=en | access-date=20 August 2012}}</ref> and continued running as an amateur in Finland.<ref name="Urheilumuseo"/> In 1933, he ran his first 1500 m in three years and won the national title with his best time since 1926.{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=421}}{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=443}} At the IAAF meet in August 1934, Finland launched two proposals that lost.<ref name="Schenectady Gazette">{{cite news | newspaper=[[The Daily Gazette|Schenectady Gazette]] | title=Athletic Union Denies Nurmi Amateur Rank | date=29 August 1934 | page=14 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xRsqAAAAIBAJ&pg=3464,6506308&dq=paavo-nurmi&hl=en | access-date=20 August 2012}}</ref> The council then brought forward its resolution empowering it to suspend athletes that it finds in violation of the IAAF amateur code.<ref name="Schenectady Gazette"/> With a 12–5 vote, with many not voting, Nurmi's suspension from international amateur athletics became definite.<ref name="Schenectady Gazette"/> Less than three weeks later, Nurmi retired from running with a 10,000 m victory in [[Viipuri]] on 16 September 1934.<ref name="Urheilumuseo"/> Nurmi remained undefeated in the distance throughout his 14-year top-level career.{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=426}} In cross country running, his win streak lasted 19 years.{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=427}}