Oskari Kumpu

Finnish Greco-Roman wrestler Oskari Kumpu lived and worked as a laborer in Helsinki, where he represented the local club Jyry. At the 1911 unofficial World Championships he placed 6th and was selected for the 1912 Olympic Games. After having been thrown by Italy’s Oreste Arpe after 10 minutes in round one of the middleweight B division, Kumpu withdrew. Two years later, he placed third at the Finnish Championships, followed by a second place in 1916 and, finally, the title in 1917, all in the 82.5 class.

In the civil war of 1918, Kumpu fought in the ranks of the famous Jyry’s company for the Red Guards. After the defeat of the Reds, he fled to the Soviet Union. In 1919, he graduated from an intelligence officer course at the International Red Officer School in St. Petersburg. In the East Karelian Uprising he participated in the battles against Finnish separatists. In January 1922, Kumpu took part in the Kiimasjärvi expedition, when the ski battalion of the Red Army beat the Finnish troops and forced them to retreat across the border.

Later in the 1920s, Kumpu tried to resume his wrestling career in the Soviet Union with little success. He returned to the army service and in 1933, he was appointed as a first lieutenant as the military commissar of the Karelian Olonez district. He was also a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1935, he drowned in the Olonka river during a swimming trip.