Harry Larva
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Harri Edvin "Harry" Larva (September 9, 1906 - November 11, 1980) was a Finnish athlete, winner of 1500 m at the 1928 Summer Olympics.
Born in Turku, Harry Larva was forced to change his last name from Lagerström to Larva in 1928 by a young president of Finnish Athletics Union and known nationalist Urho Kaleva Kekkonen, because his name didn't sound as Finnish.
Larva, a Finnish champion in 800 m from 1928 to 1930 and in 1934, won only one bronze (1927) in his favourite distance 1500 m at Finnish Championships. Harry Larva's best year was in 1928, when he ran all his best performances in distances from 400 m to a mile.
At the Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, in a 1500 m. final, Larva held a great battle against Frenchman Jules Ladoumègue, and surprisingly won in a time of 3:53.2. Larva competed also at the 1932 Summer Olympics and finished ninth in a 1500 m.
| Olympic medalists in athletics (men) | Olympic Champions in Men's 1500 m |
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Teddy Flack | Charles Bennett | Jim Lightbody (twice) | Mel Sheppard | Arnold Jackson | Albert Hill | Paavo Nurmi | Harry Larva | Luigi Beccali | Jack Lovelock | Henry Eriksson | Josy Barthel | Ron Delany | Herb Elliott | Peter Snell | Kip Keino | Pekka Vasala | John Walker | Sebastian Coe (twice) | Peter Rono | Fermín Cacho | Noureddine Morceli | Noah Ngeny | Hicham El Guerrouj |