Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden, July 7–8, 1928
The Swedish Olympic Trials were held in Stockholm. Erik Byléhn, the Sweden vs. Finland match horse, prepared to surprise in Amsterdam. He surged to victory in the 800 metres.
Finnish-born Edvin Wide chugged through the 5000 metres in a time of 14:55.6. However, he did not win the "race" held in the rain. It was conducted as a handicap race, allowing Nils Eklöf, who had tangled with Nurmi the previous year, to start 150 meters ahead of Wide. He "won" with a time of 14:49.1.
Sten "Sten-Pelle" Pettersson dashed a decent time of 53.9 in the clutter-filled lap around the track. The Stockholm native also skimmed through the 110-metre hurdles on his home turf in 14.8.
Future javelin Olympic champion Erik Lundqvist issued a warning by hurling the spear to a Swedish record of 66.98 (219-9)
Helsingin Sanomat, July 8, 1928 (in Finnish)
Helsingin Sanomat, July 9, 1928 (in Finnish)
Stadium, Stockholm, August 26–27, 1928
Ossian Skiöld, the Amsterdam hammer throw silver medalist, proved that his form had not disappeared towards the end of the season. The man from East Götaland swung his way to his fourth consecutive Swedish championship. The hammer landed at 51.85 (170-1), tearing up the turf. It was Skiöld's best of the summer. In the 1928 season, only three throws in the world went further.
Olympic champion and recent world record holder Erik Lundqvist also succeeded. He hurled the javelin to 67.39 (221-1), the eighth-best mark of the season. The competition in Stockholm's stadium was one of the toughest javelin events of 1928, as Gunnar Lindström, the Paris silver medalist, achieved a throw of 66.46 meters for second place.
Edvin Wide, who had lost to Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola in Amsterdam, contented himself with winning only the 1500.
Henry Lindblad, seventh in the Amsterdam pole vault, became the first Swede to clear four metres, a national record. Olle Hallberg, who perhaps surprisingly finished only tenth in Amsterdam, secured his fourth consecutive championship in the long jump.
IK Göta's Sten Pettersson once again emerged as the medal leader of the championships, winning the 200 and 400 flat races and the 400 hurdles in the individual events. Thanks largely to Pettersson's efforts, IK Göta was able to take the club competition's victory trophy back to their office.
Winners (Wikipedia)