Project Gutenberg 2025-07-27 Public domain in the USA. 113 Kojo, Viljo 1891 1966 Kojo, Viljo Johannes Poutanen, Juho Voittamaton : $b Kertomus suomalaisesta sisusta olympialaisissa kisoissa $aHelsinki :$bKustannusliike Minerva Oy, $c1924. Tuula Temonen "Voittamaton : Kertomus suomalaisesta sisusta olympialaisissa kisoissa" by Kojo is a novel written in the early 20th century. Set in post–civil war Finland, it follows farm boy Matti Lassila, whose relentless self-training and quiet sisu carry him from local meets toward the national stage and an Olympic marathon dream. The story pits genuine perseverance and humility against vanity and excuses, while a shy romance with a nurse humanizes his drive. The opening of the novel traces Matti’s rise from a hardworking peasant’s son—stealing minutes to train, running hills at dawn, throwing between chores—despite family skepticism and village gossip. After serving as a brave scout in the civil war, he returns to competition, finds motivation in a boastful shopkeeper, and at a midsummer meet beats him on the track, sensing his own potential. Persuading his father to let him go to Helsinki by literally outrunning the family horse, he travels with two young athletes; at Eläintarha he places modestly in the pentathlon but surges to second in the 10,000 meters behind Nurmi, prompting Pihkala to hail him as a natural marathoner. A tentative bond with a wartime nurse flickers—letters fail, a chance reunion follows—while he doubles down on rigorous winter training through slush and snow, drawing amused reactions from townsfolk and police. As spring arrives, he launches a solo 40‑kilometer test run feeling light and strong, and the excerpt breaks off mid-race. (This is an automatically generated summary.) 20250520035311poutanen 1924 FI Reading ease score: 42.1 (College-level). Difficult to read. fi Sports stories Finnish fiction -- 20th century Olympics -- Fiction PH Text Category: Novels Category: Sports/Hobbies 126452 2025-09-30T08:18:10.321366 text/html 122577 2025-09-30T08:18:15.660302 application/epub+zip 123094 2025-09-30T08:18:13.037349 application/epub+zip 113783 2025-09-30T08:18:11.973343 application/epub+zip 244766 2025-09-30T08:18:17.535319 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 230948 2025-09-30T08:18:15.022355 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 108484 2025-09-30T08:18:09.908357 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 88740 2025-07-27T16:22:27 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 15584 2025-09-30T08:18:17.657314 application/rdf+xml 13266 2025-09-30T08:18:12.457333 image/jpeg 3267 2025-09-30T08:18:12.213324 image/jpeg 123483 2025-09-30T08:18:10.332345 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog fi.wikipedia