// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Ari Salin a good sailor? He's a reel expert.
Ari Juhani Salin (20 January 1947 – 4 March 2026) was a Finnish hurdler and sprinter. Salin set Finnish records in both the 110 metres hurdles and the 400 metres hurdles and competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Career
[edit source]Salin won his first title at the national championships in 1968, when he won the 110 m hurdles in 14.7.[1] The same year, he broke the Finnish record for the first time, running 14.2 and improving the previous record by one-tenth of a second.[2] He repeated as national champion in 1969[1] and represented Finland in the 1969 European Athletics Championships in Athens, but was eliminated in the first round.[3] Originally, the 110 m hurdles were his main event, and he only dabbled in the 400 m hurdles; in 1970, however, he seriously took up the longer event as well.[2] He broke the national records in both events several times that year, setting his best times of 13.8 and 49.9 in Prague in a dual meet against Czechoslovakia.[1][2]
In 1971, Salin improved his national record in the 400 m hurdles to 49.6 and was national champion in both hurdling events.[1] At the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki, he qualified for the final in the 400 m hurdles, placing sixth in 50.57;[3] he remained the last Finn to qualify for a European Championships final in men's 400 m hurdles until Oskari Mörö did it in 2014.[4] In 1972, Salin won his third consecutive national title in the 400 m hurdles[5] and set his personal best and last Finnish record, 49.5, in Helsinki.[2] At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Salin represented Finland in the 400 m hurdles, as well as (with Stig Lönnqvist, Ossi Karttunen and Markku Kukkoaho) in the 4 × 400 m relay; in the hurdles he was eliminated in the first round, but the Finnish relay team placed sixth in the final and set the still-standing national record of 3:01.12.[6][7]
In total, Salin won eight individual national championship titles between 1968 and 1974 – four in the 400 m hurdles, three in the 110 m hurdles, and one in the 60 m indoor hurdles. In addition, he ran for Viipurin Urheilijat when they won the 1976 national championship in the 4 × 400 m relay.[1]
Personal life and death
[edit source]Salin was married to Riitta Salin, former world record holder in women's 400 metres.[6] He died on 4 March 2026, at the age of 79.[8]
References
[edit source]- 1 2 3 4 5 Ari Salin at Tilastopaja (in Finnish) (subscription required)
- 1 2 3 4 "Löpning" (in Swedish). Uppslagsverket Finland. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- 1 2 Jalava, Mirko (2014). "European Athletics Championships Zürich 2014: Statistics Handbook" (PDF). European Athletics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- ↑ Hänninen, Petri (15 August 2014). "Mörö lähtee aitojen EM-finaaliin jalkapöytä teipattuna" (in Finnish). Yleisradio. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- ↑ "Finnish Championships". Athletics Weekly. Archived from the original on 19 February 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- 1 2 "Ari Salin Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- ↑ Jalava, Juhani. "Suomen kaikkien aikojen tilasto" (in Finnish). Tilastopaja. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- ↑ Aitajuoksija Ari Salin, 79, on kuollut (in Finnish)
External links
[edit source]- Ari Salin at IMDb
- Ari Salin at World Athletics
- Ari Salin at Tilastopaja (registration required)
- Ari Salin at Olympics.com
- Ari Salin at Olympedia
