Alfred Asikainen | |
Weight: | Middleweight (67.5–75kg) |
Birth Date: | 2 November 1888 |
Birth Place: | Viipuri, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire |
Death Place: | Mäntsälä, Uusimaa, Finland |
Show-Medals: | yes |
Alfred Johan "Alpo" Asikainen (2 November 1888 - 7 January 1942) was a Finnish wrestler who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal.[1]
Asikainen won the Greco-Roman middleweight event at the 1911 World Wrestling Championships in Helsinki. It was the only time he finished within the podium at a World Wrestling Championship.[2]
At the 1912 Olympics Asikainen won against his first four opponents, including the eventual winner Claes Johanson. In the semifinal he wrestled Estonian Martin Klein, who was forced to represent Russia,[3] for eleven hours and forty minutes (time limits were introduced to wrestling in 1924) on a blisteringly sunny day outdoors in the Stockholm Olympic Stadium. After one hour, a short rest was granted, and then every thirty minutes.[4]
Asikainen lost by pin, and Klein ended up withdrawing from the final due to exhaustion, resulting in Johansson winning the gold medal by default.[5] Asikainen was awarded the bronze medal. The bout between Asikainen and Klein remains the longest wrestling match in history.[6]