Career
Iso-Hollo was one of the last "Flying Finns", who dominated distance running between the World Wars. As a youth, Iso-Hollo did skiing, gymnastics and boxing, and took up running when he joined the army. He was successful over distances between 400 m and marathon.
He was denied a chance at the world record because the officials lost count of the number of laps – the lap-counter was looking the wrong way, being absorbed in the decathlon pole vault.
When Iso-Hollo went to his last lap, the official failed to ring the bell, and the entire field kept on running, covering the distance of 3460 m. If the distance were 3000 m, Iso-Hollo probably would have broken the world record.
In 1933, Iso-Hollo broke the 3000 m steeplechase world record, running 9.09.4 in Lahti and went to the 1936 Summer Olympics as a favourite. After the Olympics, Iso-Hollo fell ill with rheumatism but kept on competing until 1945.
He died aged 62.