Lauri Koskela
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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
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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]
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]
