Tallinn's Airport Departure Gate 8: entrance to the Estonian Olympic display.
All photos: Estonian Olympic Commitee/Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum
by Philip Barker
An exhibition promoting Estonia’s Olympic history has opened at Tallinn Airport to mark 100 years since the foundation of the Estonian Olympic Committee.
It has been placed at departure gate number eight and has been created in association with the Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum.
“Turning one gate at Tallinn Airport into an Olympic history display is certainly unique; nothing of a kind was attempted by museums in Estonia or abroad before on such a scale,” said museum director Siim Randoja.
“We hope this project will increase the general public’s awareness about important sports history values and the importance of an active lifestyle,”
Although weightlifter Alfred Neuland won Estonia’s first gold medal at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, the NOC was not formally constituted until 1923.
Estonia competed as an independent nation at the Olympics of the inter-war years.
At the 1936 Berlin Games, wrestler Kristjan Palusalu notably won gold in both freestyle and Greco Roman heavyweight categories.
After the war, Estonians competed as part of the Soviet team until 1988.
An Estonian team re-appeared at the 1992 Games in Albertville and Barcelona.
An interactive display is also included to promote Estonia’s Be Active Year.
Physical activity is one of the core aspects of health, and airport visitors will now have a nice opportunity to move around instead of sitting while they wait for their flight. It is good to know we can educate millions of people passing through the airport about the history of sports in our country,” said NOC President Urmas Sõõrumaa.
There is also a fitness challenge on the Reaction Wall developed with advice from 2008 Olympic discus champion Gerd Kanter.
Visitors can also take a virtual tour of the permanent sports museum located in Tartu,which is a member of the Olympic Museums Network.
This is presented by Estonian 400m hurdles record holder and Olympian Rasmus Mägi,
The airport exhibition is expected to remain in place until the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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