Stadium, Stockholm, September 23-24, 1923
One of the season’s toughest 800-metre races was held during the Trust Games in Stockholm at the end of September. Competing almost on home turf, Sven Lundgren clocked 1:54.6, the fifth-fastest time of the season globally. Germany's rising star Otto Peltzer finished just a tenth of a second behind, setting a German record that placed him joint seventh in the world rankings. Charles Hoff, meanwhile, came fourth, setting a Norwegian record of 1:55.9. “A tough competition,” commented the newspaper Uusi Suomi in Finland.
Edvin Wide, who had recorded several narrowly sub-15-minute times in the 5,000 metres during the summer of 1923, posted 14:59.1 in Stockholm, the sixth-best performance globally that year. Stockholm Stadium’s track was undeniably excellent, with five of the year’s top six 5,000-metre times run there.
Charles Hoff, the versatile and somewhat unpredictable new pole vault world record holder, surprised everyone by competing in the 400 metres, where he defeated Sweden’s pride, Nils Engdahl. Hoff’s time of 49.7 set a Norwegian record, which he shaved by another half-second a few days later.
At the Paris Olympics the following year, Hoff made a similar move, competing in events like the 800 metres instead of the pole vault.
Vilho Niittymaa of Finland won the discus with a throw of 44.50 metres (146-0), the 11th-longest mark of the season. There was also excitement in the javelin, where Hugo Lilliér defeated Olympic champion Jonni Myyrä with a season-best throw of 61.93 metres. In a relatively weak global javelin field that season, this performance secured Lilliér the fifth spot in the world rankings.