# 1963 Nordic Athletics Championships

The 1963 Nordic Athletics Championships was the second edition of the international athletics competition between Nordic countries and was held in Gothenburg, Sweden. It consisted of 34 individual athletics events, 22 for men and 12 for women. This covered a track and field programme plus a men's marathon race.
Finland defended its team title in the men's points classification with 225.5 points and Sweden repeated as women's team champions with 104 points. Iceland took part in the men's competition only and was the only nation not to have an athlete top the podium. Among the athletes in attendance were 1962 European Athletics Championships medalists Pentti Nikula, Stig Pettersson, Rainer Stenius and Pentti Eskola.
Ulla-Britt Wieslander of Sweden was the most successful athlete of the tournament, defending both her 100 metres and 200 metres titles as well as adding the 80 metres hurdles championship to her honours. Bengt-Göran Fernström was the only man to win two individual titles, taking the 200 m and 400 metres races. Athletes to successfully defend their 1961 titles were Carl Fredrik Bunæs (100 m), Stig Pettersson (high jump), Stein Haugen (discus), Birger Asplund (hammer), Karen Inge Halkier (shot put) and Nina Hansen (pentathlon).

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Carl Fredrik Bunæs (NOR) | 10.6 | Pauli Ny (FIN) | 10.7 | Sven Hörtevall (SWE) | 10.8 |
| 200 metres | Bengt-Göran Fernström (SWE) | 21.9 | Sven-Åke Löfgren (SWE) | 22.0 | Richard Simonsen (NOR) | 22.1 |
| 400 metres | Bengt-Göran Fernström (SWE) | 47.5 | Hans-Olof Johansson (SWE) | 48.2 | Matti Honkanen (FIN) | 48.4 |
| 800 metres | Erkki Niemelä (FIN) | 1:49.7 | Olavi Salonen (FIN) | 1:50.0 | Pekka Juutilainen (FIN) | 1:50.8 |
| 1500 metres | Olavi Salonen (FIN) | 3:49.0 | Sven-Olof Larsson (SWE) | 3:49.7 | Arne Hamarsland (NOR) | 3:51.7 |
| 5000 metres | Sven-Olof Larsson (SWE) | 14:15.0 | Odd Fuglem (NOR) | 14:23.6 | Reijo Höykinpuro (FIN) | 14:24.8 |
| 10,000 metres | Jan-Erik Karlsson (SWE) | 30:10.8 | Simo Saloranta (FIN) | 30:10.8 | Pål Benum (NOR) | 30:14.6 |
| Marathon | Eino Oksanen (FIN) | 2:22:01 CR | Paavo Pystynen (FIN) | 2:22:07 | Eino Valle (FIN) | 2:23:40 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Bengt Persson (SWE) | 8:50.2 CR | Esko Sirén (FIN) | 8:51.6 | Jouko Kuha (FIN) | 8:56.8 |
| 110 m hurdles | Kjellfred Weum (NOR) | 14.9 | Juhani Vuori (FIN) | 14.9 | Raimo Asiala (FIN) | 15.0 |
| 400 m hurdles | Jaakko Tuominen (FIN) | 52.4 | Hannu Ehoniemi (FIN) | 52.9 | Jussi Rintamäki (FIN) | 53.2 |
| High jump | Stig Pettersson (SWE) | 2.11 m | Kjell-Åke Nilsson (SWE) | 2.08 m | Henrik Hellén (FIN) | 2.05 m |
| Pole vault | Pentti Nikula (FIN) | 4.72 m CR | Taisto Laitinen (FIN) | 4.72 m | Risto Ankio (FIN) | 4.60 m |
| Long jump | Pentti Eskola (FIN) | 7.65 m CR | Rainer Stenius (FIN) | 7.34 m | Aarre Asiala (FIN) | 7.27 m |
| Triple jump | Yrjö Tamminen (FIN) | 15.49 m CR | Martin Jensen (NOR) | 15.43 m | Asko Ruuskanen (FIN) | 15.33 m |
| Shot put | Bjørn Bang Andersen (NOR) | 17.35 m CR | Matti Yrjölä (FIN) | 17.22 m | Erik Uddebom (SWE) | 17.20 m |
| Discus throw | Stein Haugen (NOR) | 52.88 m | Niilo Hangasvaara (FIN) | 52.80 m | Pentti Repo (FIN) | 52.68 m |
| Hammer throw | Birger Asplund (SWE) | 61.06 m | Sverre Strandli (NOR) | 60.72 m | Kalevi Horppu (FIN) | 60.21 m |
| Javelin throw | Pauli Nevala (FIN) | 78.92 m | Terje Pedersen (NOR) | 78.43 m | Gunnar Arntsen (NOR) | 76.89 m |
| Decathlon | Markus Kahma (FIN) | 7034 pts | Valbjörn Thorláksson (ISL) | 6931 pts | Seppo Suutari (FIN) | 6641 pts |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Finland (FIN) | 41.0 CR | Denmark (DEN) | 42.2 | Only two teams finished | Only two teams finished |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Sweden (SWE) | 3:16.1 | Finland (FIN) | 3:16.3 | Norway (NOR) | 3:20.9 |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Ulla-Britt Wieslander (SWE) | 11.9 CR | Else Hadrup (DEN) | 11.9 | Maija Koivusaari (FIN) | 12.1 |
| 200 metres | Ulla-Britt Wieslander (SWE) | 24.4 CR | Else Hadrup (DEN) | 24.9 | Hilkka Kivistö (FIN) | 25.7 |
| 400 metres | Hilkka Hivisto (FIN) | 57.2 | Elisabeth Östberg (SWE) | 57.3 | Eeva Haimi (FIN) | 57.8 |
| 800 metres | Yvonne Strandberg (SWE) | 2:18.2 | Anita Aittala (FIN) | 2:18.7 | Eeva-Liisa Kalliolahti (FIN) | 2:19.4 |
| 80 m hurdles | Ulla-Britt Wieslander (SWE) | 11.1 CR | Nina Hansen (DEN) | 11.4 | Sirkka Norrlund (FIN) | 11.5 |
| High jump | Berit Larsson (SWE) | 1.64 m | Leena Kaarna (FIN) | 1.64 m | Pirkko Heikkilä (FIN) | 1.55 m |
| Long jump | Gunilla Cederström (SWE) | 5.87 m CR | Berit Tøien (NOR) | 5.77 m | Nina Hansen (DEN) | 5.68 m |
| Shot put | Karen Inge Halkier (DEN) | 13.70 m | Gun-Britt Flink (SWE) | 13.35 m | Eila Ronkonen (FIN) | 13.05 m |
| Discus throw | Wivianne Freivald (SWE) | 48.18 m CR | Marjatta Mäkinen (FIN) | 47.05 m | Inkeri Lehtonen (FIN) | 45.34 m |
| Javelin throw | Unn Thorvaldsen (NOR) | 50.10 m | Raija Talvensaari (FIN) | 45.99 m | Britt Johansson (SWE) | 45.42 m |
| Pentathlon | Nina Hansen (DEN) | 4513 pts CR | Lena Kindberg (SWE) | 4202 pts | Tuovi Vahtera (FIN) | 4124 pts |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Denmark (DEN) | 47.4 CR | Sweden (SWE) | 47.7 | Finland (FIN) | 47.9 |

## Points table
### Men

| Rank | Country | Points |
| 1 | Finland | 225.5 |
| 2 | Sweden | 131 |
| 3 | Norway | 87.5 |
| 4 | Denmark | 19 |
| 5 | Iceland | 8 |

### Women

| Rank | Country | Points |
| 1 | Sweden | 104 |
| 2 | Finland | 84 |
| 3 | Denmark | 53 |
| 4 | Norway | 17 |