Matti Sippala

Sippala defeated javelin world record holder Matti Järvinen at the Finnish Olympic tryouts in 1932, throwing 70.02.^[2] At the Olympics in Los Angeles, however, Järvinen dominated, throwing beyond 70 m five times with a best throw of 72.71.^[2][3] Sippala, who had strained his back in training,^[2] threw 68.14 m on his first attempt, 4 cm less than Germany's Gottfried Weimann; he failed to improve over the next four rounds, staying in third place until the third Finn, Eino Penttilä, reached 68.70 in round five.^[2][3] In the sixth and final round Sippala threw 69.80 m, moving from fourth to second place as Finland swept the medals.^[2][3]

Sippala threw his personal best, 70.54 m, in Riga in 1934.^[1][2][4] At that year's European Championships in Turin he won another silver medal with 69.97 m, again behind Järvinen who broke his own world record.^[2]

In addition to the javelin, Sippala competed in combined events. He won silver in the decathlon at the 1930 Finnish championships,^[4] but never reached the international elite in that event.^[2] In the non-Olympic pentathlon, however, he won several national titles; at the 1931 Finnish championships he scored 4083 points and defeated Olympic decathlon champion Paavo Yrjölä in a close competition as both exceeded Martti Tolamo's unofficial world record of 4011.^[2]

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