The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Estonia

This page contains a list of the greatest Estonian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 29 of which were born in Estonia. This makes Estonia the birth place of the 37th most number of Athletes behind New Zealand, and Latvia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Estonian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Estonian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Estonian Athletes.

1. Jüri Lossmann (1891 - 1984)

With an HPI of 53.53, Jüri Lossmann is the most famous Estonian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages on wikipedia.

Jüri Lossmann (4 February [O.S. 23 January] 1891 – 1 May 1984) was an Estonian long distance runner. He finished second in the marathon at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, at 2:32:48.6, trailing Hannes Kolehmainen by 13 seconds, but beating the third-placed Valerio Arri by almost 4 minutes. At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris he was the flag bearer for Estonia and finished tenth in the marathon.

2. Jüri Tarmak (1946 - 2022)

With an HPI of 52.08, Jüri Tarmak is the 2nd most famous Estonian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Jüri Tarmak (21 July 1946 – 22 June 2022) was an Soviet Union high jumper who competed for the Soviet Union.

3. Aleksander Klumberg (1899 - 1958)

With an HPI of 51.66, Aleksander Klumberg is the 3rd most famous Estonian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Aleksander Klumberg (since 1936 Kolmpere; 17 April 1899 – 10 February 1958) was an Estonian decathlete. He competed in several events at the 1920 and 1924 Olympics and won a bronze medal in the decathlon in 1924. In 1922 he became the first official world record holder in the decathlon, albeit with a performance inferior to the Stockholm 1912 series of Jim Thorpe.Klumberg took up athletics around 1912, and in 1915–1917 held Russian records in several jumping and throwing events. Besides athletics he won three Estonian titles in bandy. In 1918–19 he fought in the Estonian War of Independence as a volunteer, and after that worked as a physical education instructor with the Estonian army (1919–20), military schools (1924–1926) and police schools (1927 and 1942–1944). He also trained the national athletics teams of Poland (1927–1932) and Estonia, and in this capacity attended the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics. He was arrested by NKVD in 1944 and kept in a prison camp in the Soviet Far East until 1956. He is buried at the Rahumäe cemetery in Tallinn.

4. Alfred Schmidt (1898 - 1972)

With an HPI of 48.93, Alfred Schmidt is the 4th most famous Estonian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Alfred Schmidt (from 1936 Ain Sillak, 1 May 1898 – 5 November 1972) was an Estonian featherweight weightlifter who won a silver medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics.Schmidt first trained in long-distance running, and took up weightlifting in 1919 while serving in the Estonian Army. Next year he won an Olympic silver medal, and in 1922 a national title. At the 1922 World Championships he was not allowed to compete, as he surpassed the body weight limit of his division, and hence acted as an official and referee. He continued to act in this capacity after retiring from competitions in 1923. He also refereed wrestling competitions and was a board member of the Estonian Sports Union. Later he became known as a trap shooter and referee, and headed the Estonian Trap Shooting Federation.

5. Jüri Tamm (1957 - 2021)

With an HPI of 48.88, Jüri Tamm is the 5th most famous Estonian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Jüri Tamm (5 February 1957 – 22 September 2021) was an Estonian hammer thrower and politician. Representing the USSR, he won a bronze medal in the 1980 and 1988 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics. He set the world record for the hammer in 1980.

6. Jaan Kikkas (1892 - 1944)

With an HPI of 48.10, Jaan Kikkas is the 6th most famous Estonian Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Juhan "Jaan" Kikkas (5 June 1892 – 9 March 1944) was an Estonian middleweight weightlifter. He won a bronze medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics, setting a world record in the snatch.Kikkas first trained as a cyclist, and changed to weightlifting in 1921, aged 29. Next year he placed fourth at the world championships. In 1925 he won his only national weightlifting title. After retiring from competitions he ran his metal workshop in Tallinn. He died there in 1944 during a Soviet air raid.

7. Jaak Uudmäe (b. 1954)

With an HPI of 48.01, Jaak Uudmäe is the 7th most famous Estonian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Jaak Uudmäe (born 3 September 1954) is an Estonian former triple jumper and long jumper who competed for the Soviet Union. He was the gold medalist at the 1980 Summer Olympics. He set a personal best of 17.35 m (56 ft 11 in) in his Olympic victory – a mark which remains the Estonian record.In 1979 and 1980, Uudmäe was acknowledged as Estonian Athlete of the Year. In 1980, Uudmäe's coach, Jaan Jürgenson, was nominated as the USSR Coach of the Year , and Jaak himself as the USSR Master Sportsman of the Year. He was the runner-up at the 1979 Soviet Spartakiad, behind Gennadiy Valyukevich.His two sons, Jaanus Uudmäe and Jaak Joonas Uudmäe, are also both long and triple jumpers.

8. Adalberts Bubenko (1910 - 1983)

With an HPI of 47.87, Adalberts Bubenko is the 8th most famous Estonian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Adalberts Bubenko (16 January 1910 – 7 July 1983) was a Latvian athlete, who competed mainly in the 50 kilometre walk. He competed for Latvia in the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany in the 50 kilometre walk where he won the bronze medal.

9. Bruno Junk (1929 - 1995)

With an HPI of 47.77, Bruno Junk is the 9th most famous Estonian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Bruno Junk (27 September 1929 – 22 September 1995) was an Estonian race walker. He competed for the Soviet Union at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics and won bronze medals on both occasions. He set a world record in the 15 km in 1951 (1:08:08.0), and had world's best times in the 20 km in 1956 (1:30:00.8) and in the 3 km in 1952 (11:51.4). Domestically he won four Soviet titles: in 1951 and 1956 in the 20 km, and in 1952 and 1953 in the 10 km, and eight Estonian titles: in 1949–50 and 1956–59 in the 20 km, in 1958 in the 10 km, and in 1959 in the 30 km.Junk took up race walking in 1948 and retired in 1959. He later worked as an athletics coach at Dünamo Tallinn club, serving as its vice-president in 1976–1979. He was also vice-president (1964–1970) and then president (1979–1987) of the Estonian Athletics Federation. In parallel Junk worked for the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs and wrote for the Estonian sports periodicals Kehakultuur and Spordileht. Since 1996 an annual memorial race walking tournament has been held in his honor in his birth town of Valga. There is a street named after him in Puka, Estonia, a borough near Valga.

10. Jaan Talts (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 47.27, Jaan Talts is the 10th most famous Estonian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Jaan Talts (born 19 May 1944) is a former Estonian weightlifter. He competed for the Soviet Union at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won a silver and a gold medal, respectively. Throughout his career, Talts won two world and four European titles and set approximately 40 world records.

People

Pantheon has 30 people classified as Estonian athletes born between 1891 and 1990. Of these 30, 17 (56.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Estonian athletes include Jaak Uudmäe, Jaan Talts, and Erki Nool. The most famous deceased Estonian athletes include Jüri Lossmann, Jüri Tarmak, and Aleksander Klumberg. As of April 2024, 1 new Estonian athletes have been added to Pantheon including Bruno Junk.