Jouko Kuha

Jouko Santeri Kuha (born 30 September 1939) is a Finnish former long-distance runner, who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase. In 1968 he broke the world record with a result of 8:24.2.

Career

Kuha's international breakthrough was at the Finland-Sweden athletics international in 1965 when he beat Bengt Persson with the Finnish record of 8:37.6. In the same year he was ranked ninth at the annual ranking of Track and Field News.

At the 1966 European Championships in Budapest, Kuha ran a new Finnish record of 8:36.2 in the heats, but did not qualify for the final. Kuha realized that in order to reach the world's top he would be forced to leave Finland's winter conditions and conduct his training in warmer climates. He was the first Finnish runner to train in foreign countries, thus becoming a trendsetter for later Finnish runners who had success in the 1970s.

During his career 1958–95 Kuha ran the 3000 metres steeplechase 170 times. At the age of 41 (1981) he ran with a time of 9:00.61 and at about two months prior to his 50th birthday in 1989, 9:37.79.