Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
In recent years we have heard about so many Faroese records in athletics. But almost every time it has been women’s records that have been broken. In particular, Bjørk Herup Olsen has set a whole host of records, but Rigmor N. Arge, Rebekka Fuglø, Joan Bláfoss, Randi Kúrberg, Ingibjørg Poulsen and Mona Breckmann have also set records in recent years.
For the men, on the other hand, Faroese records have been as rare as puffins on Christmas night. The most recent record belongs to Rógvi Højgaard in the javelin, and it dates from 2007. Before that we have to go all the way back to Heini Hátún’s records: the shot put in 2004 and then the records at 100, 200 and 400 metres from 2001 to 2003.
On Saturday morning Hvirlan organised an open meet at Tórsbreyt, with three events on the programme. In two of the events, the high jump and the triple jump, there has been little competition in the Faroe Islands. But on Saturday morning there was a good number of participants in the events, and among them were both Daniel Djurhuus Rein and Øssur Debes Eiriksfoss, who have both jumped above the Faroese high jump record in training. So there was plenty of suspense over whether the record would be broken, and also over which of them would break it.
It was Øssur who took the record, which previously stood at 175 cm. He cleared 176 cm at his first attempt, even though he brushed the bar. Things did not go to plan at all for Daniel, who finished on 171 cm. Øssur, who is one of our fine gymnasts, took the record from another gymnast, namely Helgi Winther Olsen, who won 7 gold medals at the 2001 Island Games. Øssur chose to continue at 180 cm after the record had been broken. And although he came very close, especially on his second attempt, he ended up winning with 176 cm, one cm higher than the old record.
That it is an advantage to have a background in gymnastics when competing in athletics was also evident when the triple jump got under way. The record of 12.86 m belonged to the long jumper Ási Mikkelsen, but there was a feeling in the air that two athletes here could threaten it. And already after the first round the suspense was confirmed. Daniel Djurhuus Rein jumped 12.67 and Øssur Debes Eiriksfoss jumped 12.74. After that things went less well for Daniel, while Øssur just kept improving. And on the third jump it happened. 13.08 with a just-legal wind (+1.9). A new Faroese record – the second of the day! On his fifth jump Øssur went all the way out to 13.25 m, but this time the wind was too strong (+2.4) for the record to be ratified. All that remains is to hope that Øssur will do more in athletics, because there is still so much more to gain!
The third event on Saturday (it was actually the first) was the discus. And it was no ordinary athlete who turned up to compete here. Danish champion Peter Berling, who has thrown a full 54 metres this year, had come to the Faroe Islands to throw because a competition in Helsingborg had been cancelled. Before the competition Peter had promised us a stadium record, and he lived up to it with a throw of 49.76. This is also a metre further than the Faroese record, so it must be said that the standard that day was unusually high. Heri Ziska also threw reasonably well and finished 2nd with 41.39. Without knowing for certain, I would guess that this is the first time since the Island Games in the Faroe Islands that Heri has not gone home as the winner of a discus competition in the Faroe Islands.
All in all, there is no denying that this turned out to be a red-letter day. 2 Faroese records, and in the third event the winning result was also better than the Faroese record. This was the last in a series of open meets that Hvirlan has organised. All the results, along with a YouTube clip of the high jump record, are available at www.hvirlan.fo
