Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
Not long ago, all hopes of a medal for Øssur Debes Eiriksfoss rested on the triple jump. But then things really started to take off in the high jump, and some of his jumps at 195 cm in training had looked easy, so suddenly he could be expected to join the battle for the medals in the high jump as well.
The starting height was set at 180 cm. But at the request of the Faroese camp, it was set at 170 cm. Øssur must have felt good, because no Faroese athlete was seen attempting either 170 or 175 cm. Øssur’s first attempt came at 180 cm, and it went well. His second attempt, at 185 cm, went even better. By now two men had dropped out. At 190 cm there was a small failure, but there was no doubt on the second attempt. Still 7 men left in the competition, and the bar was raised to 195 cm. Now it became difficult for most of them, including our man, who knocked the bar off on both of his first two attempts. But on his final attempt he got over cleanly, and now things got really exciting, because three more dropped out, leaving only four men in the competition to try to clear two metres.
Only one of them managed it. That was Simon Phelan of Jersey, who later also cleared 210 cm and finally attempted 214 cm to take the Island Games record, which is 213 cm. That did not succeed, however. The other three, Tarmo Saar of Saarema, Erik Larson of Gotland and our own Øssur, all finished on 195 cm. So the officials began counting back – working out who had the fewest failed attempts. Tarmo Saar had cleared 195 cm on his second attempt, while Øssur and Erik both used three attempts. So Tarmo won silver. At 190 cm both Øssur and Erik had one failed attempt, while both of them had cleared the other heights at the first attempt. So they could not be separated, and they were therefore judged to be tied for bronze!
Another medal for athletics! And yet another Faroese record! Øssur himself held the old record, having jumped 176 cm at the Faroese Championships last year, so today’s improvement was a full 19 cm!!
Two Faroese records and medals clinking in the Faroese camp already on the first day – we are incredibly happy and proud.
Warmest congratulations on the bronze medal, Øssur!
Øssur Debes Eiriksfoss and Erik Larson finished tied in 3rd place with 1.95 m
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