Picture this: it’s 1925. Radios are crackling, hats are mandatory, and two Nordic nations decide the best way to express their eternal friendship–rivalry is… track and field. Thus, Finnkampen was born — the annual Sweden vs Finland athletics match, now celebrating a century of running, jumping, and throwing.
🎂 100 Years of Finnkampen – Sweden vs Finland on the Track
In 2025, Finnkampen turns 100. While the rest of the world was busy inventing jazz, sliced bread, and awkward dance moves, Sweden and Finland were already lining up sprinters and measuring javelins.
Except for a few interruptions (world wars, scheduling hiccups), this international athletics rivalry has taken place almost every year. If IKEA and Nokia had a baby, it would probably come with a lifetime ticket to Finnkampen.
⚔️ The Rivalry That Never Gets Old
In Sweden, it’s called Finnkampen (“The Finland Match”). In Finland, it’s called Ruotsi-ottelu (“The Sweden Match”).
Translation: “It doesn’t matter what you call it, as long as we beat the neighbours.”
- Every point counts. Even finishing 5th instead of 6th in the 1500m can decide national bragging rights.
- Home advantage is huge: one year it’s Stockholm’s Olympic Stadium, the next it’s Helsinki’s. One sea of yellow-and-blue flags, then a wall of blue-and-white.
It’s less about world records, more about national pride, sporting honour, and making sure your neighbour cries quietly into their sauna beer.
🏆 Historic Finnkampen Moments
- The First Finnkampen (1925, Gothenburg): Finland won. Naturally, Sweden immediately demanded a rematch.
- Paavo Nurmi: Finland’s “Flying Finn” and Olympic legend set the tone in early editions: “We run to win.”
- The Javelin Rivalry: Both nations love throwing sharp sticks — especially Finland, which has held multiple world records in javelin.
- Swedish Women’s Team: Historically dominant, while Finland’s men have produced legendary distance runners.
- World-Class Records: Over the years, Finnkampen has delivered world and European records in running and javelin — proof that even rivalry meets produce greatness.
🎉 Why Finnkampen’s 100th Anniversary Matters
Athletics has changed — spandex replaced wool shorts, starting pistols replaced handshakes — but Finnkampen endures.
- It’s one of the oldest continuous international athletics competitions.
- It celebrates not just medals but the idea that sport can unite nations — while still letting them tease each other endlessly.
- For many athletes, this meet means more than a Diamond League medal. It’s about wearing your flag and defending your turf.
🥇 The Spirit of Finnkampen
Imagine two friendly siblings who love each other dearly but still argue over who can run faster, jump higher, or throw further. That’s Sweden and Finland in Finnkampen.
And now, at 100 years, the tradition is stronger than ever:
- The stadiums roar.
- The flags wave.
- The athletes still run, throw, and jump like the honour of their nation depends on it.
Because, in a way, it does.
✨ Here’s to Finnkampen at 100 years: a century of spikes on tracks, javelins in the air, and neighbours proving year after year that sport is the best way to fight without starting a war.