Nordic Athletics Explained

Nordic Athletics
Type:Sports federation
Membership:5 member federations
Website:nordic-athletics.org

Nordic Athletics is an international governing body for the sport of athletics in the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. It is responsible for organising Nordic competitions between the nations, as well as collating Nordic records for the best performances by athletes of the nations,[1] and holding congresses on the sport for technical rules, coaching and sport administration. Membership of the regional body is composed of the five national athletics bodies. The group also serves to influence the International Association of Athletics Federations and European Athletics in regards to Nordic issues.[2]

The earliest regular Nordic competition to be established was the Nordic Marathon Championships and Nordic Combined Events Championships, which were first held in 1949 as a single-host competition. The first full programme event was the Nordic Junior Athletics Championships, an outdoor track and field competition for under-21 athletes, which began in 1950. Several competitions were created and discontinued in the 1960s–1980s, including a full senior programme event in the Nordic Athletics Championships. The 1990s saw three competitions become regular fixtures: the Nordic 10000m Challenge, the Nordic Cross Country Championships, and the Nordic–Baltic Under-23 Athletics Championships. Alongside these events, the Nordic Race Walking Championships, Nordic Indoor Athletics Match, Nordic Junior Athletics Championships and the Nordic Junior Combined Events Championships comprise the ongoing competitions organised by the body.[3] [4]

Since 2008, the organisation has encouraged the involvement of athletes from the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) as both guest athletes and formal competitors.[2]

In July 2019 it began publishing Nordic Athletics Magazine.[5]

Membership

Competitions

CompetitionTypeFrequencyFirst yearFinal year
Biennial 1961 1965
indoor track and field Annual 1986 1987
indoor track and field Annual 2011
Biennial 1974 1982
Annual 1997
Annual 1949 1970
Annual 1997
Biennial 1949 1981
Annual 1957
Biennial 1974 1978
Annual 1966 2003
Biennial 1998
Annual 1950 (as under-21)
under-20 combined events Annual 1969

References

Competitions

Notes and References

  1. http://www.nordic-athletics.org/uncategorized/nordic-records/#more-1952 Nordic records
  2. http://www.nordic-athletics.org/wp-content/uploads/Nordic-Handbook-2019-Approved-version-1.pdf Nordic Handbook
  3. http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/nc.htm Nordic Championships
  4. http://www.nordic-athletics.org/wp-content/uploads/Venues.pdf Competition Venues
  5. Web site: Nordic Athletics Magazine 10th July . 10 July 2019 . Norsk Friidrett . 2 September 2019.