Yrjö Saarela

Yrjö Erik Mikael Saarela (13 July 1884 – 30 June 1951) was a Finnish wrestler who won Olympic gold and a world championship.

Wrestling Saarela began wrestling in 1906, coached by Carl Allén.

By 1908, he was a well-established wrestler and was nominated into the Finnish Olympic team without trials.

He won silver at the 1908 Olympics, which was a single-elimination tournament: According to rumours, Weckman bribed Saarela to throw the final.

He won the Finnish national heavyweight championship in 1908 and 1909.

He won the over 83 kg class at the 1911 World Wrestling Championships.

+ Yrjö Saarela in the over 83 kg class at the 1911 World Wrestling Championships OpponentResult Undecided Win by fall at 2:34 Win by fall at 4:25 Win by points

He won the Olympic gold at the 1912 Games, which was a double-elimination tournament: + Yrjö Saarela at the 1912 Summer Olympics Greco-Roman heavyweightRoundOpponentResult First round Win by fall at 32:37 Second round Win by walkover Third round Win by fall at 6:12 Fourth round Win by fall at 3:36 Fifth round Loss by withdrawal at 6:00 Sixth round Win by fall at 6:00 Final round Win by withdrawal at 3:16:00 Win by fall at 9:00 The fifth round loss was a favour to Olin, who would've been eliminated otherwise. Saarela withdrew, faking a knee injury. Olin returned the favour by letting him win the gold medal match, even though Saarela was exhausted after a three-hour bout against Jensen.

He began a brief professional career after the 1912 games, wrestling mostly in international circuses touring in Finland.

His amateur status was reinstated in 1924. He was a regional coaching consultant in the Finnish Wrestling Federation in the 1930s.

He received the Cross of Merit, in gold, of the Finnish Sports from the Ministry of Education in 1948.

His Olympic medals are in the collection of the Sports Museum of Finland.

Biography His parents were Jaakko Sarkkinen and Maria Sunila, and he was born Yrjö Sarkkinen. They switched their last name after buying and moving to a farm named Saarela. He eventually inherited two thirds of the farm.

He married Ester Elisabeth Markuksela in 1910. They had children: Aino Kyllikki (1910–1972) Ahti Johannes (1912–1913) Erkko Olavi (1913–1972) Marja-Liisa (1915–1953) Yrjö Eino Mikael (1920–1940) Pentti Johannes (1922–1942) Pirkko Kaarina (1927–). She married economist Kaarlo Larna.

His personal economy suffered when he acted as a surety to loans that defaulted during the Great Depression. His farm went bankrupt in 1931. However, thanks to an inheritance, he recovered quickly and returned to farming.

He suffered a stroke in 1944 and was paralyzed.