Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
They did it again! Our outstanding young athletes. 2 golds, 2 silvers and a bronze in the Danish Indoor Youth Championships. For the fifth year running, Faroese athletes have travelled down to the indoor DMU. And once again this year, as in every other year, we have come home with gold and been crowned Danish champions. Treysti had sent Rebekka Fuglø and Marnar Djurhuus, and Bragdið had sent Rúni Seloy.
Last year most of the hopes were pinned on Rebekka Fuglø, and she duly became a double Danish champion. This year it was Marnar Djurhuus who, judging by the entry times, had a good chance of winning gold in both of the races he was entered in.
That’s how it went for the first 2,800 metres: Marnar with Rasmus on his heels
On the first day they ran the 3,000 metres. It was set up as an exciting duel between Marnar and Rasmus Linderoth from Århus. They both had the same entry time, 8:57. It was Marnar who set the pace all the way, with Rasmus right on his heels. Marnar struggled to breathe the dry air in the hall, and the lap times were a little slower than planned. As they went into the last lap, Rasmus moved past Marnar, intending to run away from him. But Marnar went with him for a moment, then floored the accelerator and put the Dane in his place by two seconds over the last 100 metres. The time was not as good as a year ago, but with 9:00.47 the first gold medal was in the bag.
Rasmus goes past on the last lap…
…but Marnar responds with a storming sprint and wins comfortably
The times in the 3,000 m. On the podium, from left: Rasmus T. Linderoth, Marnar and Fredrik T. Kapper
The next day the 1,500 m was on the programme. Here too Marnar was the favourite, and the recipe was the same. It was Marnar who controlled the pace while the others tried to hang on. But when it comes to the final sprint, nobody can match Marnar. Like a second Petter Northug, he sprinted fairly comfortably to yet another gold medal. His time of 4:17.21 is not his best. Beforehand it had been predicted that he had a good chance of taking Bogi Lenvig’s Faroese indoor records at both distances, but the dry air and the tactical racing meant that will have to wait a little longer.
That’s how the first 1,300 metres of the 1,500 m went, with Marnar in front
A Dane made his move over the last 200 m, but once again Marnar showed his finishing speed
The times in the 1,500 m. On the podium, from left: Kristian U. Hansen, Marnar and Viktor Rasmussen
Rebekka Fuglø, who won Danish titles at 800 and 1,500 both indoors and outdoors last year, competed this time at 1,500 and 3,000 metres instead. And it went very well for her. In the 3,000 metres on the first day she was battling for places two to four. Over the final laps she dropped the others and ran to a secure silver medal – just 4 seconds behind the winner! Rebekka’s time was 10:36.42.
Rebekka was very pleased with her first 3,000 m
The 3,000 m gets under way and Caroline Christiansen was soon clearly in the lead
Rebekka has settled into 2nd place and put in a very good finishing sprint. On the podium, from left: Rebekka, Caroline Christiansen and Anna B. Mikkelsen
In the 1,500 metres on Sunday she was up against some very fast and talented girls. Rebekka just about managed to keep up with them, but was a few metres behind. On the last lap she then begins to close in on the three at the front. She runs right up to them, and even past them. All four then come sprinting towards the finish. Unfortunately Rebekka has used too much energy getting up there, but still manages to beat one of them, and so takes the bronze medal. A very strong run. But had she waited just a little longer with her sprint, she might have finished even higher. Rebekka was, it’s fair to say, a little regretful afterwards. But the time was very good! 4:43.28 without specific training bodes well for the summer.
This is how close they were as they crossed the finish line in the 1,500 m
Rebekka started sensibly. 2 laps to go and she picks up the pace…
…and catches them before the last lap. On the podium, from left: Marie Mørch, Josefine Rytter and Rebekka
Rúni Seloy won Danish indoor gold at 800 metres in both 2009 and 2010. Last year he had only just recovered from an injury and so did not take part. This year Rúni was again among the favourites to contend for the medals. The tactics were clear: run hard from the start. He went straight to the front and pushed hard. With one lap to go, only the favourite, Mihn Kyun Cho, was still with Rúni. With about 150 metres left he went past Rúni, who nevertheless finished to take the silver medal and set a new Faroese record, which now stands at 1:58.58. A very strong run by Rúni!
Rúni as we know him – out in front. Mihn Kyun Cho and Frederik Furstenberg chase him
Mihn put in a storming sprint and won. The Faroese record is now 1:58.58!
On the podium, from left: Rúni, Mihn Kyun Cho and Frederik Furstenberg. Jógvan K. Glerfoss was very pleased with Rúni’s 800 m
On Sunday Rúni then ran the 400 metres. Here he had been drawn in the strongest heat, and that ended up disrupting Rúni’s race. He kept up reasonably well for the first 200 metres, but then began to fall back. He tightened up somewhat over the final metres before the finish, but still came home in 54.97 sec, 7th overall.
Rúni sets off in the fastest heat of the 400 m
Two golds, two silvers, a bronze and a Faroese record at a Danish winter championships is far, far more than anyone could expect. And our young athletes have now come home with results like these every year since 2008, when Bjørk went to the DMU for the first time. Hearty congratulations on these excellent results!
Gutti was, as you might expect, very pleased with Marnar’s and Rebekka’s performances
(Photos: Gutti)
More photos can be found in Treysti’s photo gallery.
