Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
Saturday 19 May 2012 will be a historic day for Frælsur Ítróttur Føroya, and so also for Faroese sport in general. On that day Bjørk Herup Olsen will run for the Nordic title in the 10,000 metres at Østerbro Stadion in Copenhagen. This is the first time a Faroese athlete has competed as a Faroese athlete in an international athletics competition.
Things got moving after a meeting with Dansk Atletikforbund last year. The prospects of Faroese international membership of the IAAF look rather bleak, but nothing should stand in the way of us taking part as Faroese athletes in Nordic competitions. The Danes did not think so either, and so they raised the matter at a meeting with the other Nordic countries. The result was that we can now take part as Faroese athletes for certain Nordic championship titles. These include the Nordic Challenge, the competition in question for the Nordic title in the 10,000 metres, to which some of our neighbouring countries are also invited, this time Estonia and the Netherlands.
Bjørk comes straight from the USA with a fresh Faroese record in her bag. Last weekend she competed in New Orleans, where she ran the 10,000 metres and the 3,000 m steeplechase. Hopefully Bjørk held back a little in the 10,000 metres, as her time was a good minute off the Faroese record she set just a few weeks ago. But the steeplechase went well. This is only the second time Bjørk has run the event, but the result was very good: a new Faroese record of 11:01.90, equivalent to 953 points on the IAAF scoring tables. That makes it her strongest result ever! Only Albert Marni Joensen, with 960 points in the 3,000 m steeplechase, and Joan Bláfoss, with 976 points in the 10 km, have scored more points than Bjørk.
Bjørk (left) is no ordinary athlete. Here she wins the 1,500 metres at the Reykjavík International Games in 2010.
Saturday’s race will be exciting. The gap between the 14 runners is not that large. Bjørk is towards the slower end on entry times, but if she runs to her very best and perhaps a little beyond, she can stay with most of the field for much of the 25 laps. The participants are as follows, with entry times in brackets:
- Leila Luik, Estonia (37:19)
- Liina Luik, Estonia (36:52)
- Esle Matas, Estonia (38:20)
- Evelin Talts, Estonia (37:18)
- Hilde Asheim, Norway (36:24)
- Hanne Sande, Norway (36:36)
- Louise Wiker, Sweden (34:26)
- Cecilia Kleist, Sweden (36:00)
- Kirsten Petterson, Denmark (35:58)
- Bjørk Herup Olsen, Faroe Islands (36:58)
- Andrea Deelstra, Netherlands (36:05)
- Elina Lindgren, Finland (34:24)
- Mira Tuominen, Finland (34:38)
- Nina Chydenius, Finland (35:22)
The Finnish women look strong, but performances can always vary a little. Bjørk has a 10 km time of 36:18 from Runavík in 2010, so it should be possible to improve the 10,000 m record a bit further. If she does, we can expect a placing around the middle. And that would certainly be acceptable.
Bjørk can expect great support at the track on Saturday, as many Faroese runners will be in Copenhagen that weekend to run the Wonderful Copenhagen Marathon. Her parents and the chair of FÍF will also be there.
FÍF wishes Bjørk the best of luck in the race.
