Olympian Frej Liewendahl

The stamp commemorates one of Åland’s first great sports stars, track and field athlete Frej Liewendahl (1902–1966) of Mariehamn, who made his Olympic debut at the 1924 Olympics in Paris.

Frej’s real breakthrough came in Helsinki at the selection races for the 1924 Paris Olympics when he qualified second in the 1 500-metre run behind Finland’s great track and field star Paavo Nurmi, thus obtaining a ticket for the Finnish Olympic team. He finished eighth in the 1 500-metre final and also qualified for the 3 000-metre final, which Finland won, but from which he had to abstain due to illness.