Örjansvalls Stadium, Halmstad, Sweden, June 7, 1925
Edvin Wide, who had moved from Finland to Sweden around the time of the Finnish Civil War, improved the 3000-metre world record by one second to 8:27.6 in a handicap race on the west coast of his new home country. At the halfway mark, the stopwatches showed 4:08.2, indicating a clear slowdown in the second half.
Paavo Nurmi, however, had blazed through the distance in 8:26.4 indoors during his American tour. The "Flying Finn," who had just returned from a three-week boat trip across the Atlantic, commented on Wide's result in a rare press conference. The man from Turku calmly stated that there was room for improvement in the result, undoubtedly referring to himself.
Idrottsbladet, June 8, 1925 (in Swedish)
Uusi Suomi, June 9, 1925 (in Finnish)
Stadium, Stockholm, June 11, 1925
Just a couple of days after the Halmstad run, Wide clocked 5:25.9 in the 2000 meters, thus taking his second world record from Nurmi in a short period. The Swedish distance running ace achieved his result in a handicap race, where relatively unknown Swedish competitors started 75–200 metres ahead. The 1500m split was around 4:07–4:08, and Wide covered the last 400 meters in 59.7 seconds.
Helsingin Sanomat, June 12, 1925 (in Finnish)
Helsingin Sanomat, June 13, 1925 (in Finnish)
Uusi Suomi, June 13, 1925 (in Finnish)
Idrottsbladet, June 19, 1925 (in Swedish)
Oslo, June 13-15, 1925
Edvin Wide's strong competitive spirit continued in Oslo. The elementary school teacher won the 1500 in Oslo with 4:00.0 and the 5000 with 15:03.9. Both performances ranked among the top 15 fastest in the world for the season. Vilho Tuulos from Finland jumped the fifth longest triple jump in the world for the season (14.95/49-½).
Helsingin Sanomat, June 17, 1925 (in Finnish)
Stadium, Stockholm, June 18-19, 1925
"The Moose of Pälkäne," Väinö Sipilä, improved the 20,000 metres world record on the good track of the Stockholm Olympic Stadium in a competition supported by the Trusten company. The Finnish cross-country champion from a month prior clocked a time of 1:06:29.0. The three-time Swedish champion in the 20-kilometer road race, Gustaf Mattson, lost by almost a minute.
Sipilä's record lasted for a relatively long time, as Paavo Nurmi only broke it in 1930.
Edvin Wide crushed the Swedish 5000m record with 14:40.4. This also remained Wide's career best time in the 5000. Eero Berg from Finland finished second.
Traditionally, the high jump standard in Sweden was high. Karl Österberg, born in Billnäs, Finland, cleared a new national record for his new home country, 195 cm, on his first attempt, which ranked sixth in the world season's list. Österberg's mark lasted as the national record until 1937.
Helsingin Sanomat, June 20, 1925 (in Finnish)
Helsingin Sanomat, June 21, 1925 (in Finnish)
Idrottsbladet, June 29, 1925 (in Swedish)