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Lot #3232
Paavo Nurmi, Taisto Mäki, Glenn Cunningham Signatures

The Flying Fins and the Kansas Flyer

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Estimate: $400+
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Description

The Flying Fins and the Kansas Flyer

Vintage ink signatures of Paavo Nurmi, Taisto Maki, and Glenn Cunningham on individual off-white 5.75 x 4 trimmed album pages, each bearing newspaper clippings and permanently affixed to slightly larger sheets. Also includes signatures of Tom Deckard, Greg Rice, and Don Lash on individual album pages affixed to the reverse of the three sheets. In overall very good condition, with irregular spots of toning and some soiling. Nurmi and Maki were two of the lauded Flying Fins, a nickname given to several Finnish middle and long-distance runners; Nurmi won nine gold and three silver medals in his twelve events in the Olympic Games, and throughout his 14-year career, he remained unbeaten in cross country events and the 10,000-meters. Maki broke world records over two miles, 5000-meters, and 10,000-meters, and was the first man to run 10,000 meters in less than 30 minutes; the cancellation of the 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, ended Maki's hopes of representing his country at the Olympics. Cunningham, whose nickname was 'the Kansas Flyer,' was an American distance runner and athlete considered as one of the greatest American milers of all time; he placed second in the 1500-meter at the Berlin 1936 Summer Olympics. Accompanied by a modern 10 x 8 reprint photo of the three together in 1940 when Nurmi and Maki visited the United States on a fundraising tour.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Olympic Memorabilia
  • Dates: #505 - Ended July 20, 2017





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