Hosta

Eero Reino Lehtonen (21 April 1898 – 9 November 1959) was a Finnish athlete. He competed at the 1920 Olympics in the pentathlon, long jump and decathlon and at the 1924 Olympics in the pentathlon and 4 × 400 m relay. He won the pentathlon at both Games, but performed poorly in other events. He retired after learning that pentathlon was excluded from the 1928 Olympics.^[1]

In 1920 Lehtonen won the national titles in the pentathlon and long jump, setting a new national long jump record at 7.02 m. At the 1920 Olympics he tried decathlon, but gave up after five events. He semi-retired after the Olympics, but returned in 1922, again winning the national long jump and pentathlon titles. At the 1924 Olympic pentathlon competition Robert LeGendre set a world record in the long jump, but Lehtonen did better on average and won the gold medal.^[2]

In 1984, a bronze statue of Lehtonen was installed at the sports park in Mikkeli, his home town.^[1]

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