Nordic Marathon Championships

Last updated
Nordic Marathon Championships
Athletics pictogram.svg
Sport Road running
Founded1949
Ceased1979
Country Nordic countries
Related
competitions
Nordic Athletics Championships

The Nordic Marathon Championships was an irregularly-held men's competition over the marathon distance between athletes from the Nordic countries. All five Nordic countries took part in the competitions and all five played host to the tournament, with Iceland being the last nation to do so in 1969. Finland was the most successful nation at the championships, with only two of the race winners coming from elsewhere. The only other countries to reach the medal table were Sweden and Norway.

Contents

It was inaugurated in 1949 and was held on a biennial basis until 1959. It was incorporated into the Nordic Athletics Championships for the 1961, 1963 and 1965 editions. The event re-emerged as a separate annual competition alongside the Nordic Combined Events Championships between 1967 and 1970. The last three marathons were held in 1975, 1977 and 1979. Women never featured at the competition as developments in women's athletics had not yet reached the point where marathon races were common.

Veikko Karvonen was the most successful athlete, with three straight victories from 1951 to 1955. Three other Finns managed to top the podium twice: Tenho Salakka, Eino Oksanen and Pentti Rummakko. Rummakko would have matched Karvonen's feat had he been officially selected in 1970 – he finished first in 2:29:34 hours competing as a guest that year. No athletes outside of Finland had an athlete reach the podium on multiple occasions. Finland swept the medals in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1968, and 1969. Reflecting the success of the Flying Finns period, at least two Finnish athletes stood on the podium at fourteen of the sixteen times the championships was held (Swedes took the minor medals in 1961 and Finland took no medals in 1977). Håkan Spik of Finland set the championships record of 2:14:48 upon winning the final edition in 1979.

A Nordic Marathon Match was held in 2015 in Stockholm. Men and women's individual and team competitions were held. Swedes Fredrik Johansson and Isabellah Andersson won the races and led their nation to both team titles. [1]

Editions

EditionYearCityCountryDateNo. of athletesNo. of nations
1st1949 Stockholm Sweden
2nd1951 Tampere Finland
3rd1953 Oslo Norway
4th1955 Copenhagen Denmark
5th1957 Gothenburg Sweden
6th1959 Pori Finland
7th1961 Oslo Norway
8th1963 Gothenburg Sweden
9th1965 Helsinki Finland
10th1967 Copenhagen Denmark
11th1968 Reykjavík Iceland
12th1969 Kongsvinger Norway
13th1970 Sollentuna Sweden
14th1975 Moss Norway
15th1977 Aarhus Denmark
16th1979 Östhammar Norway

Medal summary

Veikko Karvonen of Finland has three consecutive wins from 1951 to 1955 Veikko Karvonen 1.jpg
Veikko Karvonen of Finland has three consecutive wins from 1951 to 1955
Jan Fjaerestad of Norway was one of two non-Finns to win the event Nederlandse kampioenschappen marathon, Sneek winnaar de Noor Fjaerstad, Bestanddeelnr 929-7667.jpg
Jan Fjærestad of Norway was one of two non-Finns to win the event
YearGoldSilverBronze
1949Flag of Finland.svg  Matti Urpalainen  (FIN)2:32:18Flag of Sweden.svg  Gösta Leandersson  (SWE)2:33:55Flag of Finland.svg  Paavo Laine  (FIN)2:35:01
1951Flag of Finland.svg  Veikko Karvonen  (FIN)2:28:08Flag of Sweden.svg  Gustaf Jansson  (SWE)2:29:19Flag of Finland.svg  Vilho Partanen  (FIN)2:34:37
1953Flag of Finland.svg  Veikko Karvonen  (FIN)2:30:16Flag of Norway.svg  Viktor Olsen  (NOR)2:33:17Flag of Finland.svg  Veikko Timonen  (FIN)2:35:11
1955Flag of Finland.svg  Veikko Karvonen  (FIN)2:21:22Flag of Finland.svg  Paavo Kotila  (FIN)2:24:19Flag of Finland.svg  Eino Pulkkinen  (FIN)2:26:30
1957Flag of Finland.svg  Paavo Kotila  (FIN)2:24:04Flag of Finland.svg  Eino Pulkkinen  (FIN)2:24:38Flag of Finland.svg  Eino Oksanen  (FIN)2:27:34
1959Flag of Finland.svg  Eino Oksanen  (FIN)2:25:35Flag of Finland.svg  Olavi Manninen  (FIN)2:25:44Flag of Finland.svg  Paavo Kotila  (FIN)2:26:13
1961Flag of Finland.svg  Tenho Salakka  (FIN)2:26:14Flag of Sweden.svg  Evert Nyberg  (SWE)2:26:37Flag of Sweden.svg  Arnold Vaide  (SWE)2:26:40
1963Flag of Finland.svg  Eino Oksanen  (FIN)2:22:01Flag of Finland.svg  Paavo Pystynen  (FIN)2:22:07Flag of Finland.svg  Eino Valle  (FIN)2:23:40
1965Flag of Finland.svg  Tenho Salakka  (FIN)2:24:51Flag of Norway.svg  Per Gunnar Lien  (NOR)2:24:51Flag of Finland.svg  Paavo Pystynen  (FIN)2:26:56
1967Flag of Finland.svg  Kalevi Ihaksi  (FIN)2:26:03Flag of Sweden.svg  Erik Östbye  (SWE)2:27:34Flag of Finland.svg  Tenho Salakka  (FIN)2:27:58
1968Flag of Finland.svg  Pentti Rummakko  (FIN)2:17:48Flag of Finland.svg  Raimo Tikka  (FIN)2:18:50Flag of Finland.svg  Paavo Pystynen  (FIN)2:19:19
1969Flag of Finland.svg  Pentti Rummakko  (FIN)2:21:49Flag of Finland.svg  Kalle Hakkarainen  (FIN)2:23:27Flag of Finland.svg  Ensio Tanninen  (FIN)2:23:32
1970Flag of Sweden.svg  Ulf Håkansson  (SWE)2:29:42Flag of Finland.svg  Kalle Hakkarainen  (FIN)2:29:53Flag of Finland.svg  Tenho Salakka  (FIN)2:30:18
1975Flag of Finland.svg  Reino Paukkonen  (FIN)2:21:52Flag of Sweden.svg  Ove Malmqvist  (SWE)2:22:44Flag of Finland.svg  Ari-Pekka Gylling  (FIN)2:23:34
1977Flag of Norway.svg  Jan Fjærestad  (NOR)2:20:36Flag of Sweden.svg  Lars Enqvist  (SWE)2:20:36Flag of Norway.svg  Henry Olsen  (NOR)2:21:04
1979Flag of Finland.svg  Håkan Spik  (FIN)2:14:48Flag of Finland.svg  Matti Karjalainen  (FIN)2:15:29Flag of Sweden.svg  Kjell-Erik Ståhl  (SWE)2:16:49

Medal table

Gosta Leandersson was one of nine Swedish medallists in the event's history Gosta Leandersson 1949.jpg
Gösta Leandersson was one of nine Swedish medallists in the event's history
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of Finland.svg  Finland  (FIN)1481335
2Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden  (SWE)1629
3Flag of Norway.svg  Norway  (NOR)1214
Totals (3 entries)16161648

See also

References

  1. Nordic Competitions 2015. Nordic Athletics. Retrieved 2018-04-23.