Julius Ferninand Skutnabb (12 June 1889 – 26 February 1965) 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...

 speed skater

Speed skating

Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...

 who won several Olympic medals. He was born in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 and died there as well.

Julius Skutnabb, a fireman, made his international debut at the World Allround Championships

World Allround Speed Skating Championships

The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...

 in 1914, but his promising career on an international level was promptly interrupted by World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. He kept skating on a national level, though, becoming Finnish Allround Champion in 1914, 1916, and 1917. International competition resumed in 1922 and Skutnabb, already 32 years old, finished fifth at the World Allround Championships that year. After finishing sixth in those championships the following year, his best year came in 1924.

At the 1924 Winter Olympics

1924 Winter Olympics

The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France...

 of Chamonix

Chamonix

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc or, more commonly, Chamonix is a commune in the Haute-Savoie département in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It was the site of the 1924 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympics...

, he first won silver on the 5,000 m behind compatriot Clas Thunberg

Clas Thunberg

Arnold Clas Robert Thunberg was a Finnish speed skater who won five Olympic gold medals – three at the inaugural Winter Olympics held in Chamonix in 1924 and two at the 1928 Winter Olympics held in St. Moritz...

 and the next day, he became Olympic Champion on the 10,000 m, while Thunberg took silver. Since these were the first Winter Olympics to be held, his 10,000 m time automatically was the Olympic record. These performances, combined with his 500 m and 1,500 m times during those Olympics, were good enough for a third place in the allround competition (which was also an Olympic speed skating event – for the only time – that year), and Skutnabb returned home with three medals – one of each colour.

Later that same year, Skutnabb won bronze at the 1924 World Allround Championships and in 1926, he became European Allround Champion

European Speed Skating Championships

The European Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of Europe. The International Skating Union has organised the European Championships for Men since 1893 and the European Championships for Women since 1970. The...

. Skutnabb participated in the Winter Olympics

1928 Winter Olympics

The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 11–19, 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 1928 Games were the first true Winter Olympics held on its own as they were not in conjunction with a Summer Olympics...

 again in 1928 and he managed to win his second 5,000 m Olympic silver medal (this time behind Ivar Ballangrud

Ivar Ballangrud

Ivar Ballangrud was a Norwegian speed skater, a four-time Olympic champion in Speed Skating. As the only triple gold medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics, Ballangrud was the most successful athlete there.-Biography:Ivar Ballangrud was one of the best speed skaters in the world for a period of 15...

) at the age of 38 years and 246 days.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Skutnabb at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:

Championships	Gold medal	Silver medal	Bronze medal
Winter Olympics Speed skating at the Winter Olympics Speed skating has been featured as a sport in the Winter Olympics since the first winter games in 1924. Women's events were added to the Olympic program for the first time in 1960.-History:...	1924 (10,000 m)	1924 (5,000 m) 1928 (5,000 m)	1924 (Allround)
World Allround World Allround Speed Skating Championships The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...	–	–	1924
European Allround European Speed Skating Championships The European Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of Europe. The International Skating Union has organised the European Championships for Men since 1893 and the European Championships for Women since 1970. The...	1926	–	–
Finnish Allround	1914 1916 1917	1915 1920	1921