Stadium, Stockholm, August 7–8, 1929
The toughest 1500m race of the season took place on at the Göta Games in Stockholm. Olympic champion Harri Larva intended to set a fast pace. However, he did not hear the split times, which likely caused the pace to slow too much, allowing the U.S. champion Leo Lermond to surprise him in the final stretch. Nevertheless, Larva recorded his best time of the season, 3:56.2—the same as Lermond’s winning time. With this result, both athletes shared third place in the world rankings for the season. Reidar Jørgensen finished third with a new Norwegian record of 3:56.6. "The most impressive and toughest race of the year," raved the journalist from a Finnish sports journal.
Lermond’s trip to Stockholm was a complete success. The day after his 1500m victory, he also won the 3000. Volmari Iso-Hollo of Finland finished fourth.
During the season, Larva defeated Ladoumègue but lost to Lermond, who in turn was beaten by the Frenchman. However, based on season-best times, Ladoumègue was the top runner of the year, as he ran five times under 3:57.0.
Eddie Tolan claimed first place in the 100 metres. His winning time of 10.4 matched the second-best mark in the world rankings. This was already his fourth time clocking 10.4 that season.
The pace was even more electrifying in the 200. Tolan sprinted to victory with a time of 21.1, which placed him at the top of the world rankings. However, George Simpson’s 20.6 (220 yards), run earlier in the season on a straight track, was relatively about a tenth of a second faster. Erwin Gillmeister followed in second place with a time of 21.3, while Reginald Bowen finished third with 21.4. The day before, Bowen had won the 400 with 48.2, the 14th fastest of the season. The crowd was thrilled by Tolan’s performances and cheered him on for a victory lap.
Richard Rockaway’s Nordic tour did not go particularly well. The American hurdler struggled and was beaten in Stockholm by Eric Wennström. A few days later in Helsinki, he also lost to Bengt Sjöstedt. Wennström was in peak form, as he equaled the world record of 14.4 in the 110-metre hurdles two weeks later.
Reginald Bowen won the 400 with 48.2, marking his seventh-fastest lap of the season.
Harald Stenerud triumphed in the discus throw, edging both Eino Kenttä and Paavo Yrjölä. The Norwegian declared that he wanted to "strike fear and terror into the Finns," and based on the results, he seemed to have succeeded.
In the javelin throw, Eino Penttilä (62.14/203-10) edged out Hungary’s Béla Szepes (62.01/203-5), who had won the British Open Championship a month earlier with a 66-metre throw.
Helsingin Sanomat, August 9, 1929 (in Finnish)
Uusi Suomi, August 9, 1929 (in Finnish)
Hufvudstadsbladet, August 9, 1929 (in Swedish)
Helsingin Sanomat, August 10, 1929 (in Finnish)
Uusi Suomi, August 10, 1929 (in Finnish)
Hufvudstadsbladet, August 10, 1929 (in Swedish)