Norway v Sweden

Birger Selén, who had recently rattled a bronze medal at the Swedish championships, arrived in Oslo with serious intent. He pocketed the 10,000m in 31:45.6 – the eighth fastest time in the world, or third if one ignores the four Finns hogging the top of the list.

Sten "Sten-Pelle" Pettersson, a man who owned a suitcase full of Swedish titles, contented himself with a win in the 110 hurdles. In the flat sprint, he accelerated to second place. He also lugged the stick through the critical third leg of Sweden’s winning 1000m relay. World record holder Eric Wennström licked his wounds in second place in the high hurdles; his 15.1 was a far cry from the previous year.

Since Pettersson skipped the 400m hurdles, Swedish understudy Kell Areskoug seized the opportunity to snatch a victory with a personal best of 54.1.

Final Score: Sweden 123, Norway 82. Since 1917, all 11 encounters had ended in Swedish festivities. Denmark had been evicted from the Nordic tri-meet in '29 and '30, and Finland was never invited to the party in the first place.