Epstein has written an excellent piece about his interactions with Eero Mäntyranta for the Sports Science blog.http://www.sportsscientists.com/2013/12/eero-mantyranta-finlands-champion-1937-2013-obituary/Epstein says that while the chapter on Eero Mäntyranta was last in his book, it was his favorite to write and actually the first chapter he wrote.The guy clearly lived an amazing life:
David Epstein wrote:
At that lunch, Eero laughed when he picked up a fork, and started telling a story. His daughter Iiris translated, explaining that the fork had reminded her father of a stately dinner thrown in his honor after his victories at the 1964 Games. On that night, Eero had found three forks beside his plate—three times as many as the number his family had shared, growing up in a 170-square-foot-house in rural Lankojärvi, Finland. In lieu of cutlery, the children had used sharpened sticks to speak potatoes and bits of bread.
I also enjoyed this from Epstein:
David Epstein wrote:
In my opinion, sport was never about standardizing the genes in competition, but about standardizing the rules. The same case for relativism and inherent unfairness of sports could have been made using athletes who stand six-foot-ten through no hard work of their own.