Kelpo_Gröndahl
Kelpo Gröndahl
Finnish Greco-Roman wrestler
Kelpo Olavi Gröndahl (28 March 1920 – 2 August 1994) was a light-heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler from Finland. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics and won a silver and a gold medal, respectively. He won another silver medal at the 1953 World Championships and finished fifth at the 1947 European Championships. Domestically he won 15 national titles, 11 in Greco-Roman (1943, 1946–1955) and 4 in freestyle wrestling (1948–1950, 1952).[1]
Gröndahl retired from competitions after failing to qualify for the 1956 Olympics. Between 1953 and 1980 he worked as the harbormaster of the Port of Pori. He also became a member of the Pori City Council and then a member of the Pori City board of directors. In 1962–1970 he was a member of the Parliament of Finland, representing the Finnish People's Democratic League, and was elected as a presidential elector in 1956, 1962 and 1968.[2] In 1982 he was awarded the Golden Cross of Merit by the Finnish Ministry of Education. A park in the Reposaari district of Pori is named after him.[1][3]
Gröndahl was married and had four children, born in 1946, 1947, 1949 and 1956.[1]
