It is (since the late 1980s) the only annual athletics international with only two participating countries still held at a professional level.

The two-day event attracts significant audiences, with a combined total of over 50,000 tickets sold for the 2011 competition.

The 1931 event was a victory for Finland, but tensions at the track led to a knuckle fight between the runners-up in the 800 metres race.

The tension was in a large part caused by Swedish attempts, spearheaded by Sigfrid Edström, the Swedish president of the IAAF and vice-president of the IOC, to have Paavo Nurmi declared a professional athlete, and thus banned from international competitions.

After Kekkonen's speech Swedish efforts intensified, and Nurmi was banned from the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

It took eight years until 1939, before the Finns again decided to participate in the games, at the eve of the planned 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.