Nordic Junior Athletics Championships Explained

Sport:Track and field
Country:Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland
Founded:1950

The Nordic Junior Athletics Championships (Norwegian: Nordisk juniormesterskap i friidrett) is an annual outdoor track and field competition for athletes under-20 from the Nordic countriesSweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Athletes must be 19 years of age or younger by December 31 of the year the championship is held. Finland and Sweden have chosen to set a lower age limit of 18, except for athletes competing in relay races only. Norway, Denmark and Iceland have chosen not to have a lower age limit.[1]

The competition was founded in 1950 as the Nordic U21 Junior Match. For much of its early history, it was a competition between Finland, Sweden and Norway only, with that being the arrangement until 1983, with exceptions of the 1962, 1964, and 1979 championships. The competition broadened to include all Nordic states from 1983 onwards, with the exception of the period from 1989-93. The competition was renamed in 2004 to align with the International Association of Athletics Federations definitions of a "junior athlete" as under-20 rather than under-21.[2]

The competition is organised by Nordic Athletics, which also holds the Nordic 10000m Challenge, Nordic Indoor Match and Nordic Cross Country Championships. A separate under-20 event is held for combined track and field events.[3]

Editions

YearCountryPlaceDates
FinlandEspoo21–22 August
NorwayKristiansand27–28 August
SwedenEskilstuna2–3 September
DenmarkEsbjerg1–2 September
NorwayBergen16–17 August
2009FinlandVaasa22–23 August
IcelandAkureyri28–29 August
DenmarkCopenhagen3–4 September
SwedenVäxjö18–19 August
FinlandEspoo17–18 August
NorwayKristiansand16–17 August
2015Finland29–30 August
2016IcelandReykjavík13–14 August
2017SwedenUmeå19–20 August
2018DenmarkHvidovre11–12 August
2019NorwayKristiansand17–10 August

Notes and References

  1. http://www.nordic-athletics.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Nordic-Handbook-2014-Approved-version.pdf Nordic Handbook
  2. http://www.nordic-athletics.org/wp-content/uploads/Venues.pdf Nordic Competitions
  3. http://www.nordic-athletics.org/wp-content/uploads/2018.pdf 2018 Nordic Competitions