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  Happy birthday, Finland
My grandfather, Hannes's great-grandfather, was born in 1914 which means that he was born in a Finland that was still a part of the Russian empire. The previous one. The one with the czar and all. Quite a different country from the Finland that Hannes was born into exactly two weeks ago.

Today, December 6, is Finland's Independence Day. It's the country's 85th birthday.
In the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Finland was allowed to send its own team, even though it was still a part of Russia. It was an autonomous great-duchy of the empire, so I guess that justified it. The biggest star of the Finnish team, and one of the brightest stars of the 1912 Olympics was Hannes Kolehmainen who, in Finland, is said to have run Finland onto the map. Hannes K won the gold medal in the 5000m, 10000m and crosscountry events.

Hannes Kolehmainen returned to the limelight 50 years ago when he lit the Olympic Torch at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

One helluva Hannes.

We live only three blocks from the Olympic Stadium. I think I'll take a little walk there tomorrow with our Hannes. It's time he gets in touch with his roots. Right?

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