Editing Paavo Nurmi (section)

==Later life==
[[File:Paavo Nurmi in his store in 1939.jpeg|thumb|left|alt=refer to caption|Nurmi in his men's clothing store in Helsinki in 1939]]
While active as a runner, Nurmi was known to be secretive about his training methods.{{sfn|Lovesey|1968|p=165}} Always running alone, he upped his pace and quickly exhausted anyone who was bold enough to join him.{{sfn|Lovesey|1968|p=165}} Even his club mate [[Harri Larva]] had learned little from him.{{sfn|Lovesey|1968|p=165}} After ending his career, Nurmi became a coach for the Finnish Athletics Federation and trained runners for the [[1936 Summer Olympics]] in Berlin.<ref name="Elite Games">{{cite web | first=Matti | last=Pesola | title=SUL 100 vuotta – Paavo Nurmi | trans-title=SUL 100 years – Paavo Nurmi | work=Elite Games | url=http://www.eliittikisat.fi/uutiset/jarjestotoiminta/sul-100-vuotta-paavo-nurmi | access-date=22 August 2012 | language=fi | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111072640/http://www.eliittikisat.fi/uutiset/jarjestotoiminta/sul-100-vuotta-paavo-nurmi | archive-date=11 January 2014}}</ref> In 1935, Nurmi along with the entire board of directors quit the federation after a heated 40–38 vote to resume athletic relations with Sweden.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|The Milwaukee Journal]] | title=Paavo Nurmi Resigns as Finnish Instructor | date=7 May 1935 | page=2 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ELBQAAAAIBAJ&pg=1771,7169314&dq=nurmi&hl=en | access-date=22 August 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> However, Nurmi returned to coaching three months later and the Finnish distance runners went on to take three gold medals, three silvers and a bronze at the Games.<ref name="Elite Games"/><ref>{{cite news | newspaper=[[The Gettysburg Times]] | title=Nurmi Resumes Coaching Finns | date=2 August 1935 | page=6 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QgYmAAAAIBAJ&pg=6876,1236017&dq=nurmi&hl=en | access-date=16 September 2012}}</ref> In 1936, Nurmi also opened a men's clothing store (haberdashery) in Helsinki.<ref name="HS 2006">{{cite web | title=Paavo Nurmen herrainvaateliike oli Mikonkadulla | trans-title=Paavo Nurmi's clothing store was on Mikonkatu | work=[[Helsingin Sanomat]] | url=http://www2.hs.fi/extrat/kaupunki/korttelisarja/46_2.html | date=9 September 2006 | access-date=21 August 2012 | language=fi | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309010210/http://www2.hs.fi/extrat/kaupunki/korttelisarja/46_2.html | archive-date=9 March 2012}}</ref> It became a popular tourist attraction,<ref name="The Calgary Herald">{{cite news | first=Paul | last=Sjoblom | newspaper=[[Calgary Herald|The Calgary Herald]] | title='Phantom Finn' Will Coach Runners | date=5 June 1941 | page=7 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Fx9kAAAAIBAJ&pg=2515,383035&hl=en | access-date=22 August 2012}}</ref> and [[Emil Zátopek]] was among those who visited the store trying to meet Nurmi.<ref>{{cite book | first=Michael | last=Sandrock | year=1996 | title=Running with the Legends | publisher=Human Kinetics | pages=[https://archive.org/details/runningwithlegen00sand/page/13 13–14] | isbn=978-0873224932 | url=https://archive.org/details/runningwithlegen00sand/page/13 }}</ref> The Finn spent his time in the back room, running another new business venture; construction.<ref name="HS 2006"/> As a contractor, Nurmi built forty apartment buildings in Helsinki with about a hundred flats in each.<ref name="Doug Gillon">{{cite web | first=Doug | last=Gillon | title='Nurmi on Nurmi' – son of 'Flying Finn' legend speaks about his father | work=[[International Association of Athletics Federations|IAAF]] |url=http://www.iaaf.org/news/printer,newsid=31592.htmx | date=13 August 2005 | access-date=21 August 2012}}</ref> Within five years, he was rated a millionaire.<ref name="The Calgary Herald"/> His fiercest rival Ritola ended up living in one of Nurmi's flats, at half price.{{sfn|Sears|2001|p=216}} Nurmi also made money on the stock market, eventually becoming one of Finland's richest people.<ref name="HS 2000">{{cite web | title=Paavo Nurmi: a majestic runner but one thorny customer as a man | work=[[Helsingin Sanomat]] | url=http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20000815xx1 | date=15 August 2000 | access-date=1 August 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111071007/http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20000815xx1 | archive-date=11 January 2014}}</ref>

In February 1940, during the [[Winter War]] between Finland and the Soviet Union, Nurmi returned to the United States with his protégé [[Taisto Mäki]], who had become the first man to run the 10,000 m under 30 minutes, to raise funds and rally support to the Finnish cause.<ref name="Urheilumuseo"/> The relief drive, directed by former president [[Herbert Hoover]], included a coast-to-coast tour by Nurmi and Mäki.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Press|The Pittsburgh Press]] | title=Tilden Returns to Tennis For Finnish Relief Fund | date=2 February 1940 | page=39 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KE4bAAAAIBAJ&pg=3180,4857723&dq=nurmi&hl=en | access-date=22 August 2012}}</ref> Hoover welcomed the two as "ambassadors of the greatest sporting nation in the world."<ref name="Time">{{cite magazine | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | title=People, Feb. 12, 1940 | date=12 February 1940 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,883972,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014061414/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,883972,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 October 2010 | access-date=22 August 2012}}</ref> While in San Francisco, Nurmi received news that one of his apprentices, 1936 Olympic champion [[Gunnar Höckert]], had been killed in action.{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=357}} Nurmi left for Finland in late April,<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Press|The Pittsburgh Press]] | title=Maki Out To Redeem Self | date=19 April 1940 | pages=2–7 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NuUdAAAAIBAJ&pg=4700,6460811&dq=nurmi&hl=en | access-date=22 August 2012}}</ref> and later served in the [[Continuation War]] in a delivery company and as a trainer in the military staff.<ref name="SLU 2">{{cite web | first=Raimo | last=Railo | title=Sata vuotta ja ylikin suomalaista urheilua, 12. osa | trans-title=Five years and a lot of Finnish sports, Part 12 | work= Suomen Liikunta ja Urheilu (SLU) |url=http://www2.slu.fi/lehtiarkisto/verkkolehti.200012.pienuutinen.805 | date=8 June 2000 | access-date=25 November 2017 | language=fi | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030928195741/http://www2.slu.fi/lehtiarkisto/verkkolehti.200012.pienuutinen.805 | archive-date=28 September 2003}}</ref> Before he was discharged in January 1942, Nurmi was promoted first to a staff sergeant (''[[ylikersantti]]'') and later to a sergeant first class (''[[vääpeli]]'').<ref name="SLU 2"/>

[[File:Olympiatuli 1952.jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption|Nurmi lights the Olympic Flame in 1952]]
In 1952, Nurmi was persuaded by [[Urho Kekkonen]], Prime Minister of Finland and former chairman of the Finnish Athletics Federation, to [[1952 Summer Olympics torch relay|carry the Olympic torch]] into the [[Helsinki Olympic Stadium|Olympic Stadium]] at the [[1952 Summer Olympics]] in Helsinki.<ref name="HS 2000"/> His appearance astonished the spectators, and ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' wrote that "his celebrated stride was unmistakable to the crowd. When he came into view, waves of sound began to build throughout the stadium, rising to a roar, then to a thunder. When the national teams, assembled in formation on the infield, saw the flowing figure of Nurmi, they broke ranks like excited schoolchildren, dashing toward the edge of the track."<ref name="Sports Illustrated">{{cite magazine | first=William | last=Johnson | magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] | title=After The Golden Moment | date=17 July 1972 | url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086332/index.htm | access-date=23 August 2012 | archive-date=27 February 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227083754/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086332/index.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> After [[List of people who have lit the Olympic Cauldron|lighting the flame]] in the Olympic Cauldron, Nurmi passed the torch to his idol Kolehmainen, who lighted the beacon in the tower.{{sfn|Sears|2001|p=216}} In the cancelled [[1940 Summer Olympics]], Nurmi had been planned to lead a group of fifty Finnish gold medal winners.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|The Milwaukee Journal]] | title=Finns to Pay Tribute to Nurmi at Olympics | date=28 February 1939 | page=6 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GhgaAAAAIBAJ&pg=2087,270837&dq=paavo-nurmi&hl=en | access-date=23 August 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Nurmi felt that he got too much credit as an athlete and too little as a businessman,<ref name="Finnish Literature Society"/> but his interest in running never died.{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=382}} He even returned to the track himself a few times. In 1946, he faced his old rival [[Edvin Wide]] in Stockholm in a benefit for the victims of the [[Greek Civil War]].<ref>{{cite book | first1=Paavo | last1=Karikko | first2=Mauno | last2=Koski | year=1975 | title=Yksin aikaa vastaan: Paavo Nurmen elämäkerta | publisher=Weilin & Göös | page=310 | isbn=978-9513514075 | language=fi}}</ref> Nurmi ran for the last time on 18 February 1966 at the Madison Square Garden, invited by the [[New York Athletic Club]].{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=377}} In 1962, Nurmi predicted that wealthier countries would start to struggle in the distance events: "The higher the standard of living in a country, the weaker the results often are in the events which call for work and trouble. I would like to warn this new generation: 'Do not let this comfortable life make you lazy. Do not let the new means of transport kill your instinct for physical exercise. Too many young people get used to driving in a car even for small distances.'"<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Phillips | first1=Bob | year=2005 | title=Then Snell came past like a runaway horse | journal=BMC News | volume=4 | issue=2 | page=37 | publisher=The British Milers' Club | url=http://www.britishmilersclub.com/bmcnews/2005autumn.pdf | access-date=13 September 2012 | archive-date=16 September 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916113837/http://www.britishmilersclub.com/bmcnews/2005autumn.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1966, he took the microphone in front of 300 sports club guests and criticised the state of distance running in Finland, reproaching the sports executives as publicity seekers and tourists, and demanding athletes sacrifice everything to accomplish something.{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|pp=380–381}} Nurmi lived to see the renaissance of Finnish running in the 1970s, led by athletes such as the 1972 Olympic gold medalists [[Lasse Virén]] and [[Pekka Vasala]].{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=382}} He had complimented the running style of Virén, and advised Vasala to concentrate on [[Kipchoge Keino]].<ref name="Finnish Literature Society"/>

[[File:Paavo-Nurmi-1970s.jpg|thumb|200px|Paavo Nurmi in the early 1970s]]
Although he accepted an invitation from President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] to revisit the White House in 1964,<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | title=Paavo Nurmi Welcomed to Washington by President | date=25 January 1964 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/01/25/archives/paavo-nurmi-welcomed-to-washington-by-president.html | access-date=26 August 2012}}</ref> Nurmi lived a very secluded life until the late 1960s when he began granting some press interviews.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=[[The Spokesman-Review|Spokane Daily Chronicle]] | title=Famed Nurmi Dies at 73 | date=2 October 1973 | page=15 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iKdYAAAAIBAJ&pg=4637,789799&dq=nurmi&hl=en | access-date=26 August 2012}}</ref> On his 70th birthday, Nurmi agreed to an interview for [[Yle]], Finland's national public-broadcasting company, only after learning that President Kekkonen would act as the interviewer.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=[[The Palm Beach Post]] | title=Nurmi Wants To Meet Jim Ryun | date=14 June 1967 | page=18 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VnUyAAAAIBAJ&pg=5668,3796966&dq=nurmi&hl=en | access-date=26 August 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Suffering from health problems, with at least one heart attack, a stroke and failing eyesight, Nurmi at times spoke bitterly about sports, calling it a waste of time compared to science and art.{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=365}} He died in 1973 in Helsinki and was given a [[state funeral]].<ref name="CNN"/> Kekkonen attended the funeral and praised Nurmi: "People explore the horizons for a successor. But none comes and none will, for his class is extinguished with him."{{sfn|Sears|2001|p=216}} At the request of Nurmi, who enjoyed classical music and played the violin,<ref name="Finnish Literature Society"/> [[Konsta Jylhä]]'s ''Vaiennut viulu'' (''The Silenced Violin'') was played during the ceremony.{{sfn|Raevuori|1997|p=415}} Nurmi's last record fell in 1996; his 1925 world record for the indoor 2000 m lasted as the Finnish national record for 71 years.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=[[The Buffalo News]] | title=Nurmi's last record falls, one he set in Buffalo | date=14 February 1996 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-22827900.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415232230/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-22827900.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 April 2016 | access-date=1 September 2012|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref>