Eero Reino Lehtonen (April 21, 1898, Mikkeli

Mikkeli

Mikkeli is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...

 – November 9, 1959) was a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 pentathlete

Pentathlon

A pentathlon is a contest featuring five different events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente and -athlon . The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games...

. He won the Olympic gold at the 1920

1920 Summer Olympics

The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....

 and 1924 Summer Olympics

1924 Summer Olympics

The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...

. After pentathlon was removed from the Olympic programme for 1928, Lehtonen quit his career. His multi-event legacy still survived as Finnish decathletes

Decathlon

The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin . Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not...

, Paavo Yrjölä

Paavo Yrjölä

Paavo Ilmari Yrjölä , also known as the Bear of Hämeenkyrö , was a Finnish track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the decathlon at the Olympics in 1928....

 and Akilles Järvinen

Akilles Järvinen

Akilles Eero Johannes Järvinen was a Finnish athlete and decathlete and Olympic medallist....

, took a double victory at the 1928 Summer Olympics

1928 Summer Olympics

The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...

. In 1984, Lehtonen got his own bronze statue at the sports park in Mikkeli

Mikkeli

Mikkeli is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...

, his home town http://www.mikkeli.fi/fi/kuvat/museot/ulkoveistokset/isot/eero_lehtonen.htm.