Lauri Koskela

Lauri Koskela
Personal information
Born	16 May 1907; Lapua, Finland
Died	3 August 1944 (aged 37); Baryshevo, Leningrad, Russia
Height	167 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	62–68 kg (137–150 lb)
Sport
Sport	Greco-Roman wrestling
Club	Lapuan Virkiä
Medal record
Men's Greco-Roman wrestling
Representing Finland
Olympic Games
European championships

Lauri Koskela (16 May 1907 – 3 August 1944) was a Greco-Roman wrestler from Finland. He competed at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics and won a bronze and a gold medal, respectively.^[1] Koskela was the European champion in 1935, 1937 and 1938 and placed third in 1939. Domestically, he won seven titles in 1932–33, 1936 and 1940–43.^[2]

Kidnapping and death

Koskela lived in Lapua, South Ostrobothnia, where he worked at the State Cartridge Factory. Koskela was a member of the local trade union branch and the Communist Party of Finland. In 1930, he was kidnapped by the fascist Lapua Movement. Koskela represented the left-wing club Ponnistus until the fall of 1930, when he joined the right-wing Virkiä in order to make it to the Olympics, as the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation did not participate the games.^[2] Koskela was killed in action during the Continuation War in 1944.^[3]

References

^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Lauri Koskela". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Lauri Koskela (1907–1944)". Helemi – Lapua Historical Database (in Finnish). 24 July 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
^ "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.