Pauli Lauri Nevala is a former track and field athlete from Finland who mainly competed in the men's javelin throw. His first major international meet was the 1962 European Athletics Championships in Belgrade, where he went out in the qualification round. The next year saw him step up to the very upper echelon of javelin throwers with his new personal best of 86.33 meters, thrown in Helsinki on 16 July 1963. This was very close to the world record at the time. In the Olympic year 1964 however, Nevala had major problems even breaking 80 meters and didn't enter the Tokyo Olympics as one of the favorites. Nevala cleared the Olympic qualification quite easily while the leading favorite and new world record holder, Terje Pedersen of Norway, was shockingly knocked out ? the first man not to qualify. In the final Nevala threw confidently from the start, and took the lead with his fourth throw of 82.66, his best that year. This was eventually enough for a surprising victory, narrowly ahead of Gergely Kulcs�r. As it turned out this didn't nudge Nevala's career back to an upwardly path, and his results stagnated. 

November 30th, 1940 in Pohja (Age 83)