Quick Facts
Biography
Johan Verner Weckman (26 July 1882 – 22 February 1968) was a wrestler, who is the first Finnish Olympic gold medalist.
Wrestling
He was inspired to take up wrestling at the age of 15. He joined the club Helsingfors Gymnastikklubben in 1902, then moved to Helsingin Atleettiklubi in 1903. He won the Finnish national Greco-Roman heavyweight championship in 1904. Then he moved to Germany, where he joined the club Germania Karlsruhe.
He won the unofficial Greco-Roman heavyweight world title in Duisburg in 1905.
Weckman was the initiating force behind Finland sending a team to the 1906 Intercalated Games. He was being pressured to change citizenship and to join the German team, but Weckman insisted on representing Finland. He found a private financial supporter, and four Finnish competitors travelled to Athens. He won gold in his class:
| Event | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middleweight | First round |  Paul Boghaert (FRA) | Win |
| Quarter-finals |  Sauveur (BEL) | Win | |
| Semi-finals |  Rudolf Lindmayer (AUT) | Win | |
| Final |  Robert Behrens (DEN) | Win  | |
| All-around | First bout | Bye | |
| Second bout | Søren Marinus Jensen (DEN) | Loss  | |
The all-around event was exclusively for class-winners, and no physical medals were awarded for the three participants.
He was nominated into the 1908 Finnish Olympic team without trials.
| Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| First round | Bye | |
| Second round |  William West (GBR) | Win by fall at 1:53 |
| Quarter-finals |  Fritz Larsson (SWE) | Win by fall at 4:10 |
| Semi-finals |  Hugó Payr (HUN) | Win by fall at 5:35 |
| Final (best out of three) |  Yrjö Saarela (FIN) | Loss by fall at 4:22 |
| Win by fall at 5:07 | ||
| Win by fall at 16:10 | ||
According to rumours, Weckman bribed Saarela to throw the final. Modern sportswriters Arto Teronen and Jouko Vuolle consider there to be plenty of circumstantial evidence in favour.
He retired from wrestling after the 1908 games.
Weckman is the first Finn to win an Olympic gold, both including and excluding the Intercalated Games, and the first Finnish wrestler to win a world championship, although unofficially. Weckman also joked that he was the first Russian Olympic winner, when he met with Soviets during negotiations for the Finnish war reparations to the Soviet Union.
He donated his gold medals to the Sports Museum of Finland.
Business career
He completed his matriculation exam at the Helsinki Swedish Real Lyceum in 1902 and then studied at the Helsinki Polytechnical Institute. He moved abroad in 1904 to avoid conscription. He studied briefly in ETH Zurich and then moved to Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
Weckman graduated as a Master of Science in mechanical engineering in 1907 and electrical engineering in 1908. He briefly served in Westinghouse Electric Corporation in France in 1909, and then worked as a technical director in asbestos mining in the Ural Mountains until 1921. Then he returned to Finland, where he worked at the Kaapelitehdas, first as a technical director in 1921–1937, then its chief executive officer in 1937–1955. He remained in the company board after retirement.
He was a deputy board member of The Finnish Employers' Confederation in 1942–1947 and board member in metal industry and engineering associations.
Accolades
He is an honorary chairman of Helsingin Atleettiklubi.
He was awarded the honorary title vuorineuvos in 1953.
He received the following honorary awards:
- Order of the Cross of Liberty, 2nd and 3rd class
- Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland
- Commemorative Medal of the Winter War
- The medal for protesters against Russian military draft 1905–1906
- Cross of Merit, in gold, of the Finnish Sports
There is a memorial dedicated to him in his birth town Loviisa. Made by Matti Haupt in 1963, Olympic rings were added to it in 2010.
Talouselämä magazine listed Weckman among the 100 most significant business executives of Finland's history in 2012.
Family
His parents were farm owner Anders Weckman and Fredrika Johansson.
His first marriage was to Ingrid Suoma Regina Svedberg (1889–1947) in 1910. They had two children:
- Gunnel Ingrid Emilia (1914–)
- Per Verner Anders (1916–)
He became a widow in 1947, and married Dagmar Maria Falin (former Lund) (1894–) in 1948.