History: Finnkampen made its debut in 1925 and is thus celebrating 100 years. The international match, the last remaining one in athletics, has been decided with a few exceptions every year since then – every other year on Swedish soil, every other year on Finnish soil. On the women's side, Sweden leads with 43 wins against Finland's 26. It's the reverse order on the men's side, with 47–37 in favor of Finland.
How did it go last year? Finland took a double in Helsinki and won with 228–225 on the men's side and 229.5–224.5 on the women's side.
Largest margin of victory: Finland's men beat Sweden by 72 points in 1978.
Smallest margin of victory: In 2023, it was a tie on the men's side. Sweden won thanks to more event wins. On the women's side, Sweden has won by a margin of one point on two occasions (1980 and 1982), according to Dagens Nyheter, which refers to the book "Finnkampen – a century, two countries".
How the competition works: All placings give points, and can therefore be decisive in the end. In the individual events, the winner gets 7 points, the second 5 points, the third 4 points, the fourth 3 points, the fifth 2 points, and the sixth 1 point. In the relays, the winner gets 5 points and the second 2 points. No points are awarded to a participant who drops out or is without a result.
"Paper international match": Based on the annual best lists of the Swedish Athletics Association, a "paper international match" is presented every year before Finnkampen, where a predicted final result is obtained. Based on this, Sweden will win both international matches this year, 241.5–212.5 for the women and 233–221 for the men.
Three highlights of the weekend:
+ 10 km, men (Friday 19.50): Andreas Almgren has established himself in recent years as one of Sweden's, and Europe's, finest runners of all time. On Friday evening, the European record holder on 10 km road can give Sweden a good start to Finnkampen when he, along with Suldan Hassan and Jonas Glans, goes for a Swedish triple victory.
+ Pole vault, men (Saturday 19.50): Armand Duplantis' entry height is usually higher than the personal records of the rest of the starting field in Finnkampen. That he wins is almost a given. The question is whether "Mondo" will go for another World Championship record (6.29 currently) at the Stadium?
+ 5,000 m, women (Sunday 14.15): After several years of absence, Abeba Aregawi is making a comeback in the Swedish national team. It's not an uncontroversial return. The Ethiopia-born long-distance runner won the World Championship gold for Sweden on 1,500 meters in 2013. Three years later, she tested positive for the banned substance meldonium, but she was acquitted by the doping commission the same year.
Schedule:
Friday, August 22
18.55: Triple jump, high jump (women and men).
19.05: 10 km (women).
19.50: 10 km (men).
Saturday, August 23
18.05: 110 m hurdles (men).
18.10: Javelin (women).
18.12: High jump (women)
18.15: Long jump (women)
18.20: 100 m hurdles (women).
18.35: 5,000 m (men).
19.00: 200 m (women).
19.05: Triple jump, shot put (women/men).
19.10: 800 m (men).
19.25: Hammer (men).
19.27: 3,000 m steeplechase (women).
19.45: 100 m (men).
19.50: Pole vault (men).
19.55: Shot put (men).
20.05: 400 m (women).
20.15: 1,500 m (women).
20.25: 400 m (men).
20.35: Triple jump (men).
20.37: Discus (women).
20.40: Triple jump, 110 m hurdles (men).
20.55: Triple jump, 100 m hurdles (women).
21.10: 4x100 m (women/men).
Sunday, August 24
12.40: Walk 5,000 m/10,000 m (women/men).
13.10: Javelin (men).
13.12: High jump (men).
13.15: Long jump (men).
13.45: 400 m hurdles (women).
14.00: 400 m hurdles (men).
14.05: Shot put (women).
14.15: 5,000 m (women).
14.25: Hammer (women).
14.40: Pole vault (women).
14.45: 200 m (men).
15.00: 3,000 m steeplechase (men).
15.25: 100 m (women).
15.30: Triple jump (women).
15.37: Discus (men).
15.40: 4x400 m (men).
15.55: 4x400 m (women).
16.10: 800 m (women).
16.20: 1,500 m (men).
