Paavo Nurmi of Finland tops all track stars of the modern age in terms of Olympic medals (12 - nine of which were gold) and world records (31). Born in Turku in 1897 the 'Phantom Finn' dominated middle/long distance running in the Twenties and was a living legend by the time he retired, at the age of 37. A taciturn, hard-working man, Nurmi had his brightest days at the Paris Olympics of 1924. There, despite the sultry climate, a far cry from the cool temperatures he was used to in Finland, Nurmi collected five gold medals.

He had his greatest success on July 10 when, in the space of an hour, he won the 1500m in 3:53.6 and then the 5000m in 14:31.2. In the shorter race he killed the opposition with a hot early pace (800 metres in 1:58.5). With one lap (of a 500m track) to go, Nurmi had the race won - that is when he threw his famous watch onto the grass and went on to win with ease. In the 5000m Nurmi had two strong rivals in Ville Ritola, also of Finland, and Edvin Wide of Sweden, who tried to break him with a fast pace. Nurmi was content to follow them 40 metres behind, checking his pace with his watch until he caught them up as they faded. He finally won from Ritola. Mind you, this ordeal was not new to him: three weeks earlier, on the cinders of the Zoological Gardens in Helsinki, he conducted a dress rehearsal under better climatic conditions and set two world records in the space of an hour: 3:52.6 for the 1500m and 14:28.2 for 5000m.