Leo Roininen

In his youth, Leo Roininen played basketball, but he found more success at the national level as a track and field athlete. He was third and second on the Canadian javelin throw lists in 1946 and 1947 respectively, before capturing his first national title in that event in 1948. He was selected to represent Canada in both the shot put and javelin throw at that year’s London Olympics, but only started in the latter, where he placed 20th in the qualifying round and did not advance. He had much better luck at the British Empire Games two years later, when he won the javelin throw and took bronze in the shot put.

Domestically, Roininen defended his javelin titles in 1949 and 1950, even while studying on a track and field scholarship at Washington State University, and was still ranked number one in Canada in that event in 1951, even though he did not take the title. He continued to compete into 1952, ranked third overall, but did not make the delegation to the Helsinki Olympics and retired from active competition shortly thereafter. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Washington State and returned to Sudbury, where he worked for the mining company INCO, retiring in 1985.

Personal Best: JT – 60.295 (1948).