Q 01/05

By what nickname was Paavo Nurmi known for dominating distance running in the 1920s?

A) The Turku Express

B) The Flying Finn

C) The Arctic Arrow

D) The Iron Finn

Answer · why

B) The Flying Finn

The Flying Finn was so quiet and elusive that the press gave him a second name, the Phantom Finn.

Q 02/05

Which US president invited Nurmi to the White House during his 1925 tour of America?

A) Woodrow Wilson

B) Calvin Coolidge

C) Warren G. Harding

D) Franklin D. Roosevelt

Answer · why

B) Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge received him during a five-month tour of 55 races that filled American sports pages, though the gruelling schedule took its toll on hi...

Q 03/05

Who finally broke Nurmi's record of nine Olympic gold medals?

A) Carl Lewis

B) Mark Spitz

C) Michael Phelps

D) Usain Bolt

Answer · why

C) Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps won his tenth gold in Beijing in 2008, finishing the 200 m butterfly unable to see after his goggles filled with water; Latynina, Spitz...

Q 04/05

World records from Nurmi's 1925 American tour never became official because he ran them where?

A) On grass tracks

B) On roads

C) Indoors

D) At altitude

Answer · why

C) Indoors

Indoors was where 45 of his 55 American races were held, and the sport's world body ratified no indoor records until the 1980s, so none of those marks...

Q 05/05

In 1968 Nurmi set up a foundation that still funds research into which illness?

A) Tuberculosis

B) Arthritis

C) Heart disease

D) Polio

Answer · why

C) Heart disease

Heart disease had struck Nurmi himself: after surviving a heart attack he founded the Paavo Nurmi Foundation, which still pays for cardiovascular rese...