Finland at the 1908 Summer Olympics Finland at the 1908 Summer Olympics Finland competed at the Summer Olympic Games for the first time at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The Grand Duchy of Finland was part of the Russian Empire at the time, but Finland had become a sovereign member of the International Olympic Committee in 1907. Verner Weckman became the first Finn to win an olympic gold. He was also the first Finn to win a gold at the 1906 Intercalated Games. 28 Finns won a medal at the games. No women entered from Finland. Aarne Salovaara and Johan Kemp competed in
Olympic Games Athens. These Games were, but are not now, officially recognised by the IOC and no Intercalated Games have been held since. The Games attracted a broad international field of participants and generated great public interest. This marked the beginning of a rise in both the popularity and the size of the Olympics. The Winter Olympics was created to feature snow and ice sports that were logistically impossible to hold during the Summer Games. Figure skating (in 1908 and 1920) and ice hockey (in 1920) were featured as Olympic events at the Summer Olympics. The IOC desired to expand this list