Armas Valste

Armas Ilmari Valste (born Wahlstedt; 7 August 1905 – 16 March 1991) was a Finnish athlete and a prominent coach and sports administrator. He competed at the 1928 Olympics in the high jump, shot put and decathlon with the best achievement of fifth place in the shot put.

Valste retired from competitions in early 1930s. From 1930 to 1935 he was a coach and from 1935 to 1960 the head coach of the Finnish athletics team, preparing it to the 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics, as well as other international competitions in between. He then moved to administrative positions and was the Secretary General of the 1971 European Athletics Championships held in Helsinki. He retired the same year for health reasons, but remained active in sports and from 1970 to 1980 was a board member of the European Athletics Association. In recognition to his contribution to athletics he was awarded the Order of the White Rose of Finland in 1964