Slottsskogsvallen, Gothenburg | July 31 – August 1, 1926 (decathlon)
Stadium, Stockholm | August 21–22, 1926 (main meet)
The figure of the 31st Swedish Athletics Championships once again became hurdler-sprinter Sten “Sten-Pelle” Pettersson. Following an unsuccessful trip to America, he claimed the blue and yellow championships in the 100, the 110 hurdles, and the 400 hurdles. In both timber events, his strong rival Carl-Axel Christiernsson finished second. In the 4x400 relay, Pettersson helped his team IK Göta to win. His winning time of 55.2 in the long hurdles was Pettersson's best of the season and ranked as the 11th fastest time in the world in 1926.
Nils Engdahl's aura faded. The Stockholm County runner, who had dominated by winning three individual events (100, 200, and 400) three times in a row from 1922 to 1924, faltered in the 200 heats and was eliminated.
Internationally, the fiercest duel took place in the hammer throw. Amsterdam Olympic silver medallist Ossian Skiöld spun his way to victory with 50.97 (167-3), the third longest in the world that season. The IFK Eskilstuna athlete also held the year's two better throws. Similarly, Carl Johan “Massa” Lind, who had won silver in Antwerp, swung the iron ball to a silver mark of 50.45 (165-6), which ranked fifth when the season's throws were placed in order of length. After the competition, Lind still led Skiöld in the number of hammer throw championships 7–2.
In 1926, Edvin Wide, a primary school teacher who had provided good competition for Paavo Nurmi, achieved victory in both the 1500 and 5000 at the Swedish Championships for the second time in his career. The previous double was in 1923. Eric Stenfeldt took his second consecutive victory in the 10,000. Rain and wind affected the times.
Two-time Olympian Evert Nilsson toiled to his fifth victory in the decathlon. His winning score of 7398.300 points from the Gothenburg competition secured him second place in the 1926 world rankings, which were overwhelmingly dominated by Paavo Yrjölä.
IF Linnéa secured the team title for the first time in their history. If Edvin Wide, who had scooped up a fair bucketful of points for the Stockholm outfit, was rewarded with a cup of coffee, it was jolly well deserved.
Winners (Wikipedia)
Main meet
Hufvudstadsbladet, August 22, 1926 (in Swedish)
Helsingin Sanomat, August 24, 1926 (in Finnish)