The Swedish Athletics Federation published an open application looking for walkers for the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Last year, the walking races of the national match were strange.
The traditional track and field match between Finland and Sweden was organized for the first time already in 1925.
In recent years, Sweden has been strongly on top, because for the last five years Sweden has won in both women’s and men’s competitions. The Finnish men’s previous victory is from the end of summer 2018, and the Finnish women’s most recent victory can be found in the 2015 season.
Nowadays, a separate walking ground match is no longer organized, but the walking points are included in the normal ground match.
In a special way, walking became a topic of conversation in last year’s national match. Men’s 10 km trip to Finland Aleksi Ojala and Jerry Jokinen took a double win.
Swedish Perseus Karlstrom, a multiple World Cup medalist, was the early favorite for the race, but he suffered a tear in his thigh. Karlström still limped to the finish line and was third.
– It was a mixture of adrenaline and stupidity. If it hadn’t been for Finnkampen and the points, I would have stopped after five kilometers, the Swede commented after the race.
The biggest talking point of all, however, was the fact that Sweden had two well over 50-year-old walkers in the walking race. Finland’s top two beat them by 10 minutes, with Ojala winning with a time of 39:53.09.
On the women’s side, at a distance of 5 kilometers, Finland took a triple victory Heta Veikkolan under. Veikkola’s time was 23:14.47. The weakest Swede inexplicably lost to him by more than 12 minutes.
The Finns were also completely superior in the walks of the boys’ and girls’ national matches.
For example, working as Iltalehti’s athletics expert Arto Bryggare considered the events a poor advertisement for the sport.
– Swedish walking is a laughingstock of sports. One is at the top of the world and the others are approximately at such a level that the most urgent Finnish race tourists walk faster, Bryggare foamed for IL.
“Could you become a top walker?”
The latest plan of the Swedish Athletics Federation shows how deep the sport in question swims in the country. The Swedish federation is looking for walkers for the international match through an open search.
– There are almost no adult competitive walkers in Sweden, and something has to be done, coach Siv Karlström stated to SVT.
Siv Karlström is the mother of Perseus Karlström, who walked himself in the Finland-Sweden international match in 2019, at the age of 62. He won the EC bronze in walking in 1986.
Also the Swedish Athletics Federation in the bulletin it becomes clear that at the moment Perseus Karlström is the only viable walker in Sweden.
– Perseus needs new national team mates!
– Do you want to join in defending Sweden’s colors in Finncamp? Curious if you could become an elite walker?
The Swedish Federation’s test event will be held in Eskilstuna on May 4. The hope is, of course, that the applicants have a background in endurance sports, such as skiing or orienteering.
On the test day, there is a sport presentation, guidance and finally a 2,000 meter race.
The Swedish Federation welcomes advance applications by e-mail, and those invited to the test day will be reimbursed for their travel expenses. In addition, the day is promoted with the presence of Perseus Karlström.
The Sweden match will take place this year in Helsinki at the Olympic Stadium on the 30th-31st. August.