Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
The final day also turned out to be a good day. It began with the triple jump, where Øssur Debes Eiriksfoss set a Faroese record with his very first jump, leaping 13.32 metres and moving into fifth place. His longest jump came in the second round. That jump went exceptionally well, and Øssur landed way out at 13.93 metres. Another Faroese record! With this jump he overtook the Åland athlete, but in the same round he was himself overtaken by the other Saaremaa man, who had fouled in the first round. So Øssur was still in fifth place, but his place in the final was secure.
Øssur on his way through his penultimate jump, which measured 13.36m
The best eight after the first three rounds go through to the final, and they then jump three more rounds. After Øssur’s last qualifying-round jump of 13.50 metres, his 4th and 5th jumps were 13.39 and 13.36 metres respectively. His last jump was once again very good, but not as good as the next. 13.75 metres, and confirmation that he really is at a high level, even though he is still fairly inexperienced in the triple jump. Øssur’s final result was 6th place, because the Åland athlete he had overtaken in the second round took thorough revenge when he jumped 13.94 metres in the final round, sneaking into 5th place one centimetre ahead of Øssur. The old Faroese record belonged to Øssur himself; he set it in his first triple jump competition last summer, when he jumped 13.08 metres, so this was a pretty dramatic improvement on the record. Not quite as dramatic, though, as on the first day of the Island Games, when he took the high jump record from 176 cm to 195 cm and won the bronze medal. Hopefully there will also be a medal in the triple jump at the Island Games in two years’ time.
Øssur set a new Faroese record with 13.93m
Then came the 5,000 metres for Bjørk Herup Olsen, who was to run her third race on the Isle of Wight. Although she had been entered for three events beforehand, it was never expected that she would run them all. The idea was to be able to skip a race if the 1/2 marathon took too much out of her. But, oddly enough, Bjørk felt reasonably good after both the 1/2 marathon and the 10,000 metres, even though these were very tough races. That is the sign of a young woman in very, very good shape. And the fact that she was in such good condition again today meant that she was once more among the favourites to win a medal.
The 5,000m is under way and Johanna Kahlroth takes the lead
It was the gold medallist from the 1/2 marathon who once again tried to run fast from the start. So fast, in fact, that she went into the lead on her own. But the others took it quite calmly, and gradually everything evened out again and the pace dropped somewhat. But only until Louise Perrio suddenly poked her nose to the front and, in her characteristic light style, pulled away from the field. Bjørk was a little boxed in and could not get away straight away. But once she got clear, she stayed behind Perrio at such a pace that no one else was able to follow. This was fairly early in the race, so it was a bit of a gamble – seen from the outside. But Bjørk said afterwards that she felt very good at that moment and had no doubt that she could make it home at this ramped-up pace.
Louise Perrio and Bjørk have broken decisively clear of the rest
And it did become a duel between Louise and Bjørk. For a few laps Bjørk closed in a little, but too little for it to become exciting. Because when the gap came down to 5 seconds, Louise picked up the pace even more. The third woman, however, was so far behind that the silver medal was never under threat. Bjørk managed to hold a high pace all the way, so high that, quite unexpectedly, she crossed the line in a superb time of 17:40, which is a new Faroese record!
Bjørk has crossed the line in her third race and wins her third medal – great stuff, Bjørk!
So Bjørk finished the Island Games with two silver medals and one bronze. And in every one of her races she set a new Faroese record. In this way Bjørk has once and for all washed away the less successful Island Games of 2009 and truly shown what she is capable of. Warmest congratulations on your fantastic results, Bjørk. You are a role model!
Bjørk on the podium for the third time, and a very happy Bjørk with her medals.
Our last event was the men’s 10,000 metres, where Marnar Djurhuus was to have a go and follow up on the good result he achieved when he won the bronze medal in the 5,000 metres. Several very strong runners were taking part, so Marnar was not expected to have much chance of winning a medal. But he was to try to have a good, even and positive race, and all the better if he came somewhere close to 33:00 – or even under.
The 21 men ready for the start. Marnar is number 4 from the left
After just a few laps, four men were clear at the front, while Marnar was in a second group of four runners a little further back. Each of the first two kilometres was covered in 3:10 min. This was probably too fast a pace for Marnar, but fortunately the pace dropped a little. But two in Marnar’s group fell away, and he now ended up on the heels of one of the Guernsey men, who held a very, very even pace – 80 sec per lap, or 3:20 per kilometre. If Marnar could hang on here, he could get under 33:00 with a good last lap. And he was also told this while he was running. So when he saw that the Guernsey man’s pace was dropping slightly, he was quick to go past. He didn’t just go past. He also dropped him with a fast lap. Now there were six laps left, and he battled hard the whole time to hold the right pace.
Marnar has pulled away from the Guernsey man. The winner, Tom Wade (187), can be seen behind
And it went well, too. Because when he started the final lap, he was only three seconds behind, and he should easily be able to make that up over the last 400 metres. With a good, long and tenacious sprint, he ran the last lap in 73 seconds, and so broke through the 33-minute barrier! It has to be said that it is quite fantastic for a 16-year-old to run such a quality time, and it will be very exciting to see how much he can develop before the next Island Games. These Island Games are over for Marnar, and the outcome was that he set personal bests in both the races he took part in, as well as winning the bronze medal in the 5,000 metres!
The Faroese team pictured at Fairway Sports Centre in Sandown
You must be logged in to post a comment.