Page "Paavo Nurmi" Paragraph 36

Nurmi, who identified as neurasthenic, was known to be " taciturn ", " stony-faced " and " stubborn ".

He was not believed to have had any close friends, but he had occasionally socialized and showed his " sarcastic sense of humour " among the small circles he knew.

Acclaimed the biggest sporting figure in the world at his peak, Nurmi was averse to publicity and the media, stating later on his 75th birthday that " worldly fame and reputation are worth less than a rotten lingonberry.

" French journalist Gabriel Hanot questioned Nurmi's intensive approach to sports and wrote in 1924 that Nurmi " is ever more serious, reserved, concentrated, pessimistic, fanatic.

There is such coldness in him and his self-control is so great that never for a moment does he show his feelings.

" Some contemporary Finns nicknamed him Suuri vaikenija ( The Great Silent One ), and Ron Clarke noted that Nurmi's persona remained a mystery even to Finnish runners and journalists: " Even to them, he was never quite real.

He was enigmatic, sphinx-like, a god in a cloud.

It was as if he was all the time playing a role in a drama.