Reijo Puiras
| Reijo Puiras |
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Reijo Puiras (died 2017) was a Canadian cross-country skier and the founder of the Lappe Nordic Centre near Thunder Bay, Ontario.[1][2]
He skied for Canada's national team from 1974 to 1977, racing at the 1974 world championships in Falun and the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.[3][1] He arrived in Thunder Bay in 1975 and began cutting trails on his farm at Lappe, which opened as the Lappe Nordic Centre in 1979.[1][3] He was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame as a builder in 1993.[3] He died in 2017 aged 65; his wife Tuija and son Timo continued the centre.[2]
See also
Olympics
Puiras placed 56th in the 30 km at the 1976 Winter Olympics.[4] He is listed among the Thunder Bay Olympians in the Big Thunder National Training Center article.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Death notice: Reijo Puiras, founder of Lappe Nordic Ski Centre. Cross Country Ski Ontario, August 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Meet the family behind the Lappe Nordic Ski Centre in Thunder Bay, Ont.". CBC News, February 2022.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Builder profile: Reijo Puiras (inducted 25 September 1993). Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
- ↑ "Reijo Puiras". Olympedia.