Portrait of Yrjö Saarela

Birthday profile

Yrjö Saarela

Yrjö Saarela, Finnish wrestler and coach (died 1951)

Born
July 13, 1884
Died
June 30, 1951
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1884

About Yrjö Saarela

Yrjö Erik Mikael Saarela (13 July 1884 – 30 June 1951) was a Finnish wrestler who won Olympic gold and a world championship. == Wrestling == Saarela began wrestling in 1906, coached by Carl Allén. By 1908, he was a well-established wrestler and was nominated into the Finnish Olympic team without trials. He won silver at the 1908 Olympics, which was a single-elimination tournament: According to rumours, Weckman bribed Saarela to throw the final. Modern sportswriters Arto Teronen and Jouko Vuolle consider that there is plenty of circumstantial evidence in favour. He won the Finnish national heavyweight championship in 1908 and 1909. He won the over 83 kg class at the 1911 World Wrestling Championships. He won the Olympic gold at the 1912 Games, which was a double-elimination tournament: The fifth round loss was a favour to Olin, who would've been eliminated otherwise. Saarela withdrew, faking a knee injury. Olin returned the favour by letting him win the gold medal match, even though Saarela was exhausted after a three-hour bout against Jensen.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Yrjö Saarela timeline

  1. Yrjö Erik Mikael Saarela (13 July 1884 – 30 June 1951) was a Finnish wrestler who won Olympic gold and a world championship.
  2. He won silver at the 1908 Olympics, which was a single-elimination tournament: According to rumours, Weckman bribed Saarela to throw the final.
  3. He won the Finnish national heavyweight championship in 1908 and 1909.
  4. He won the over 83 kg class at the 1911 World Wrestling Championships.

The world when Yrjö Saarela was born

Yrjö Saarela was born in 1884. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineGrover Cleveland elected president
  • Technology milestoneFirst roller coaster opens at Coney Island
  • Notable inventionRoller coaster
  • World population~1.44B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderChester A. Arthur
  • U.S. population53.7M

1884 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Yrjö Saarela's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18842026
Population53.7M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, International Olympic Committee, Olympedia, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.