 He held world records at the unusual distances of 20,000 metres and 30,000 metres for several years.Sipilä was Finnish cross country champion in 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1929.At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris Sipilä first placed fourth in the 10,000 m race (behind Ville Ritola, Edvin Wide and Eero Berg) and then took part in the 10.65 km cross-country race, which doubled as an individual and team competition.