Last weekend offered athletics lovers one of the most exciting matches between neighboring countries.
The very traditional match between Finland and Sweden took place this year at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki (FIN).
The Finnkampen is an event that has taken place every year since 1925 and has now been honored by the World Athletics with the «Heritage Award» plaque.
As always, the discipline of walking has been included in the program, with 4 appointments (absolute and under 18), where the Finnish team overtook the Swedish counterpart, with 44 points against 21.
In the men's 10,000 absolute meters (FIN 12 - SWE 10), Swede Perseus Karlström took his 10th consecutive triumph in the event, with a time of 39:28.54 (his personal best & national record this year in Dublin is 37:57.02), in front of Finns Joni Hava, with 40:35.76, and Jerry Jokinen, with 40:41.41, both with new personal bests.
In the women's 5,000 meters (FIN 16 - SWE 6) the predominance was entirely up to the Finnish team led by Enni Nurmi, with 21:43.44, personal best with a wide margin (the previous was 22:29.74 obtained this season in Espoo) and the second overall national result, behind Sari Essayah (20:28.62, Tuusula-1994).
The second and third positions were occupied by compatriots Elisa Neuvonen, with 22:51.97, and Venla Laiho, with 23:13.53, also their personal best.
In the tests for the youngest and for the U18 category, Finnish victories by Oskari Matila, in 15:13.30 in the U18 boys (FIN 8 - SWE 3), and Aliisa Kiiski, in 14:12.36 in the U18 girls (FIN 8 - SWE 2).
Risultati Ufficiali - Official results