Nurmi set his first world record on the 10, 000 m in Stockholm in 1921.

After returning to Finland, Nurmi set a 10, 000 m world record that would last for almost 13 years.

Nurmi broke ten more indoor world records in regular events and set several new best times for rarer distances.

Nurmi had set his heart on ending his career with a marathon gold medal, as Kolehmainen had done shortly after the First World War.

Twenty world records have been set at the stadium, including John Landy's records on the 1, 500 m and the mile, Nurmi's record on the 3, 000 m and Zátopek's record on the 10, 000 m. In fiction, Nurmi appears in William Goldman's 1974 novel Marathon Man as the idol of the protagonist, who aims to become a greater runner than Nurmi.

Nurmi broke 22 official world records on distances between 1, 500 m and 20 km ; a record in running.

In 1923, Nurmi became the first, and so far only, runner to hold the mile, the 5, 000 m and the 10, 000 m world records at the same time.

At the age of 15, Nurmi rekindled his interest in athletics after being inspired by the performances of Hannes Kolehmainen, who was said to " have run Finland onto the map of the world " at the 1912 Summer Olympics.

In 1922, he broke the world records for the 2, 000 m, the 3, 000 m and the 5, 000 m. A year later, Nurmi added the records for the 1, 500 m and the mile.

On 19 June, Nurmi tried out the 1924 Olympic schedule by running the 1, 500 m and the 5, 000 m inside an hour, setting new world records for both distances.

Nurmi defeated Joie Ray and Lloyd Hahn to win the mile and Ritola to win the 5, 000 m, again setting new world records for both distances.

In 1926, Nurmi broke Wide's world record for the 3, 000 m in Berlin and then improved the record in Stockholm, despite Nils Eklöf repeatedly trying to slow his pace down in an effort to aid Wide.

Nurmi was seven seconds slower than in his world record run in 1925, and it was immediately speculated if the mile had become too short a distance for him.

In July 1931, Nurmi showed he still had pace for the shorter distances by beating Lauri Lehtinen, Lauri Virtanen and Volmari Iso-Hollo, and breaking the world record on the now-rare two miles.

On the famous race on 11 July 1957 when the " three Olavis " ( Salsola, Salonen and Vuorisalo ) broke the world record for the 1, 500 m, Matti Nurmi finished a distant ninth with his personal best, 2. 2 seconds slower than his father's world record from 1924.

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.

During the debate over his amateur status, Nurmi was joked to have " the lowest heartbeat and the highest asking price of any athlete in the world.

Peter Lovesey wrote in The Kings of Distance: A Study of Five Great Runners that Nurmi " accelerated the progress of world records ; developed and actually came to personify the analytic approach to running ; and he was a profound influence not only in Finland, but throughout the world of athletics.

" Cordner Nelson, founder of Track & Field News, credited Nurmi for popularizing running as a spectator sport: " His imprint on the track world was greater than any man ’ s before or after.

* Saïd Aouita, was ranked among the world's best at all distances between 800 metres and 5000 m in the 1980s, a gold medalist at the 1984 Olympics, and like Nurmi, was the world record holder for 1500 m, 3: 29. 46 in 1985, and 5000 m, 13: 00. 40 in 1985 and 12: 58. 39 in 1987

* Paavo Nurmi, Finnish, Regarded as the greatest track and field athlete of all time and winner of nine Olympic gold medals ( despite missing 1932 games in a professional controversy over travel expenses ), setting world records at distances between 1500 m and 20 km, and one of the Flying Finns

In his first race, the 10 000 m, in the absence of Paavo Nurmi, he won by half a lap and obliterated his own world record by more than 12 seconds.

Nurmi started to flourish during his military service, setting national records en route to his international debut at the 1920 Summer Olympics.

Nurmi, his style, technique and tactics were held to be infallible, and really seemed so, as successive imitators in Finland steadily improved the records.

At his peak, Nurmi was undefeated at distances from 800 m upwards for 121 races.

Born into a worker family, Nurmi left school at the age of 12 to provide for his family.

Nurmi at the 1920 Olympic trials

Nurmi at the 1924 Summer Olympics

Nurmi made his international debut in August at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

Nurmi, however, was given a scholarship to study at the Teollisuuskoulu industrial school in Helsinki.

In the 1, 500 m final at the Olympics in Paris, Nurmi ran the first 800 m almost three seconds faster.

The 5, 000 m final started in less than two hours, and Nurmi faced a tough challenge from countryman Ville Ritola, who had already won the 3, 000 m steeplechase and the 10, 000 m. Ritola and Edvin Wide figured that Nurmi must be tired and tried to burn him off by running at world-record pace.

The tour made Nurmi extremely popular in the U. S., and the Finn agreed to meet President Calvin Coolidge at the White House.

Nurmi was furious at the Swedes and vowed never to race Eklöf again.

This marked the first time in over five years and 133 races that Nurmi had been defeated at a distance over 1, 000 m. In 1927, Finnish officials barred him from international competition for refusing to run against Eklöf at the Finland-Sweden international, cancelling the Peltzer rematch scheduled for Vienna.

Nurmi planned to compete only in the 10, 000 m and the marathon in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, stating that he " won't enter the 5, 000 meters for Finland has at least three excellent men for that event.

On 26 June 1932, Nurmi started his first marathon at the Olympic trials.

The Guardian reported that " some of his trial times were almost unbelievable ," and Nurmi went on to train at the Olympic Village in Los Angeles despite his injury.

However, Nurmi returned to coaching three months later and the Finnish distance runners went on take three gold medals, three silvers and a bronze at the Games.

In 1952, Nurmi was persuaded by Urho Kekkonen, Prime Minister of Finland and former chairman of the Finnish Athletics Federation, to carry the Olympic torch into the Olympic Stadium at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.

Nurmi ran for the last time on 18 February 1966 at the Madison Square Garden, invited by the New York Athletic Club.

Suffering from health problems, with at least one heart attack, a stroke and failing eyesight, Nurmi at times spoke bitterly about sports, calling it a waste of time compared to science and art.