finnish runner who won nine gold medals in 1920

That legendary athlete is Paavo Nurmi. He is basically the gold standard for long-distance running back in the day. If you look at his record, he dominated the Olympic games during the 1920s, specifically starting with the 1920 Antwerp games and continuing through 1924 and 1928. He actually grabbed a total of nine gold medals in his career, which is just insane when you think about the level of competition back then.

People often call him the "Flying Finn" for a reason. I remember reading up on his training methods once because I find that kind of stuff pretty interesting for my own workout routines. He was super ahead of his time with how he paced himself and used a stopwatch during races. It is honestly pretty cool to see how someone from a century ago still holds such a massive legacy in the sports world today.