Stadium, Stockholm, August 21–22, 1945
The dual meet took a break for eight years in 1931. Immediately before the Winter War and during the interim peace, two matches were contested until the Continuation War and the Lapland War interrupted the matches again for five years.
After the cessation of hostilities in 1945, it was time to resume. The seventh Finnkampen took place at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium in August 1945. There were some adjustments to the programme, as the return of the 1000-metre relay (100+200+300+400 metres). At the same time, the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, which had been contested for match points in 1939 and 1940, were removed for three years. Additionally, the 3000-metre steeplechase, which had been included in the programme in 1939 and 1940, was also missing. For the first time, the 200 was left out of the match programme.
Finland's prospects were not commendable in 1945. The country's level of athletics had declined, while the Swedes, spared from war, came to the match in full force. Some of the Finnish athletes had fallen in the world war, some had stopped competing, and some had lost their fitness due to lack of training opportunities.
Some who started before the war had endured through the global conflict. Lennart Strandberg, who reached the 100m final at the Berlin Olympics, won the century. Sulo Bärlund, who won the Olympic silver medal in Berlin, took third place in shot put. Håkan Lidman, who was among Europe's top athletes in the late 1930s, secured victory in the hurdles with a time of 14.6. Väinö Suvivuo, who came third, had already won the Finnish championship in the high hurdles in 1939.
Among those who had lost their form was the distance runner Taisto Mäki, who only managed to score obne point in the 5000 and fell almost a minute short of his pre-war record.
Gunder Hägg, who had competed with American pole vaulter Cornelius Warmerdam for the title of the world's best athlete during the war years, sprinted to victory in the 1500. It was one of Hägg's last competitions, as he was declared a professional and banned from competition for life the following year. Future European champion and Olympic runner-up Lennart Strand provided tough competition for his countryman. From an international perspective, their duel was the toughest in the match. It also interested the audience, as 25,000 heads crowded the stands of the Stockholm Stadium on the first day of Finnkampen. On the second day, Hägg did not compete; the number of spectators dropped to 13,000.
Finland entered the match as the underdog, so the team's top athletes had to work hard to maintain even theoretical chances of victory. Finland's best athlete, pocket rocket Bertel “Bebbe” Storskrubb, who ranked among the top ten in the world in 1945, was tasked with three events. He finished second in the 400. Bebbe won the 800 with a decent time of 1:50.8, which was not far from his Finnish record and the world's best time of 1:49.3. Unusually, Storskrubb ran tactically this time. The Swedish duo formed a wedge at the front, but Bebbe powered past them to victory. In his main event, the 400-metre hurdles, the lad from Pietarsaari set a new world best time and Finnish record of 52.9. The match had already been decided before the 1000-metre relay, from which Storskrubb was excused.
The 10,000 world record holder Viljo Heino was tasked with both long distances. He faced tough competition from Åke Durkfeldt in the 5000, but in the 10,000, the man from Iitti, Finland, sprinted to a convincing victory with a world leading time of 30:04.0. Heino fell short of his own world record by about half a minute. A week later, Finland's distance running star shaved two more seconds off the Sweden match result.
As expected, Sweden won the match by a score of 105–79. The 26-point victory was the largest so far for the Swedes in Finnkampen history. In the marathon table of match victories, Sweden took the lead with a score of 4–3. However, in the marathon table of event points, the Finns retained their narrow lead with a score of 673–670.
The chairman of the Finnish Athletics Association, Urho Kekkonen, took the match loss calmly and expressed confidence in the future:
"When more peacetime passes, we will return to our pre-war level."
The match was, of course, also broadcast on the Finnish radio - but not live. In the Finnish language network, a 45-minute delayed commentary was aired after nine o'clock in the evenings of both days, called by Pekka Tiilikainen. On the Swedish-speaking wavelengths, two 20-minute taped commentaries were broadcast in Finland, called by Enzio Sevón. Television was not yet available.
Complete (Wikipedia)
Complete (Friidrottsstatistik)
Finnish results (Tilastopja)
Day 1: Hufvudstadsbladet, August 23, 1945 (in Swedish)
Day 2: Hufvudstadsbladet, August 23, 1945 (in Swedish)
Photo: Hufvudstadsbladet, August 23, 1945.
Most points, 1925–1945 (relays not included)
1 Sten Pettersson SWE 100m 200m 400m 110mH 25 27 29 31 34
2 Bertel Storskrubb FIN 400 400H 800 39 40 45 31
3 Lennart Strandberg SWE 100m 200m 39 40 45 23
4 Vilho Tuulos FIN LJ TJ 25 27 29 22
5 Gunnar Bergh SWE SP DT 39 40 45 20
6 Henry Lindblad SWE PV 25 27 29 31 19
Most points by event, 1925–1945 (relays not included)
100m
1 Lennart Strandberg SWE 39 40 45 13
2 Ilmari Helle FIN 25 27 29 11
3= Erkki Koponen FIN 29 31 6
3= Sten Pettersson SWE 25 27 6
200 m
1 Lennart Strandberg SWE 39 40 10
2 Sten Pettersson SWE 25 27 8
3 Erik Åström FIN 25 27 7
400 m
1 Bertel Storskrubb FIN 39 40 45 11
2 Erik Åström FIN 25 27 10
3= Sten Hammargen SWE 29 5
3= Börje Strandvall FIN 31 5
3= Per-Olof Edfeldt SWE 39 5
3= Anders Sjögren SWE 45 5
800 m
1 Erik Byléhn SWE 25 27 29 15
2 Harri Larva (Lagerström) FIN 27 31 8
3 Lennart Nilsson SWE 39 40 7
1500 m
1 Eino Purje (Borg) FIN 27 31 10
2= Harri Larva (Lagerström) FIN 27 29 8
2= Arne Andersson SWE 39 40 8
2= Åke Jansson (Spångert) SWE 39 40 8
5000m
1 Nils Eklöf SWE 25 27 7
2 Taisto Mäki FIN 39 40 45 7
3 Henry Jonsson (Kälarne) SWE 39 40 6
10,000 m
1 Paavo Nurmi FIN 25 31 10
2= Toivo Loukola FIN 29 5
2= Kalle Matilainen FIN 27 5
2= Taisto Mäki FIN 39 5
2= Bror Hellström SWE 40 5
2= Viljo Heino FIN 45 5
3000 m steeplechase
1 Lars Larsson SWE 39 40 8
2 Volmari Iso-Hollo FIN 39 5
3 Erik Arwidsson SWE 40 3
110 m hurdles
1 Sten Pettersson SWE 25 27 29 31 17
2 Håkan Lidman SWE 39 40 45 15
3 Eric Wennström SWE 27 29 31 11
400 m hurdles
1 Bertel Storskrubb FIN 39 40 45 15
2 Erkki Virta FIN 39 40 5
3 Sixten Larsson SWE 39 40 4
High jump
1 Assar Duregård SWE 39 40 45 10
2 Karl Karlsson SWE 25 29 10
3 Nils Nicklén FIN 39 40 45 9
Pole vault
1 Henry Lindblad SWE 25 27 29 31 18
2 Eero Lähdesmäki FIN 39 40 10
3 Birger Andersson SWE 29 31 6
Long jump
1 Olle Hallberg SWE 25 27 29 13
2 Stig Håkansson SWE 39 40 45 11
3 Pekka Simola FIN 39 45 10
Triple jump
1 Vilho Tuulos FIN 25 27 29 15
2 Onni Rajasaari FIN 39 40 10
3 Åke Hallgren SWE 40 45 6
Shot put
1 Kalle Järvinen FIN 27 29 31 12
2 Sulo Bärlund FIN 39 40 45 10
3 Armas Wahlstedt (Valste) FIN 27 29 31 9
Discus throw
1 Antero Kivi FIN 25 27 29 31 18
2 Gunnar Bergh SWE 39 40 45 13
3 Vilho Niittymaa FIN 25 27 7
Hammer throw
1 Ossian Skiöld SWE 25 27 29 31 16
2 Uuno Veirilä FIN 39 40 10
3= Carl Johan Lind SWE 25 27 8
3= Ville Pörhölä FIN 29 31 8
Javelin throw
1 Matti Järvinen FIN 29 31 39 40 18
2 Eino Penttilä FIN 27 29 31 13
3 Gunnar Lindström SWE 25 27 29 31 11