Records and medals on day one in Reykjavík

Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.

There were both records and medals on the first day of competition in Reykjavík on Saturday. It was the yellow ladies from up north who really made their mark, with no fewer than three gold medals coming their way today. Anyone who heard Oddvør Josephsen and Maria Biskopstø talk about their running on children’s radio just under a year ago will hardly be surprised by their wins in the 600 metres today: Maria in Girls 11 and Oddvør in Girls 12. But although both won gold, neither seemed entirely satisfied. Both have run a little faster before, and the Icelandic girls’ failure to give them a real race may have cost them those last few seconds. With today’s run Oddvør has also achieved the A standard for the talent group, while Maria will have to wait until she turns 12.

The Treysti ladies’ third gold medal came from Rebekka Fuglø. She is in very good form at the moment, so she was aiming for a good time. Her opening pace turned out to be too fast, though, and she paid the price at the end. But the time was just enough for a new Faroese indoor record: 2:20.62, against the old record of 2:20.68. Rebekka herself reckoned, however, that she could have matched her outdoor best as well, or got right down to 2:17–18. That will have to wait until later this year. The yellow boys couldn’t hold a candle to the girls, but they didn’t go home entirely empty-handed.

Julian Gregersen ran a cracking race and won silver (Photo: Gutti)

Julian Gregersen took everyone by surprise, running a cracking race and a cracking time in the 800 metres. In the sprint finish he was only 2/10 of a second away from gold, and his time of 2:10.88 min is the first A standard Julian has achieved. Marnar Djurhuus also won a silver medal today. He let the winner run away from him, as he is saving his strength for the 1,500 metres tomorrow. Marnar’s time was 9:19, compared with 8:53 last weekend. The Treysti boys also managed two excellent 4th places. John Hermann Fuglø was just one second short of bronze in the Boys 12 600 metres, and Einar Gregersen got under 10 min in the 3,000 metres again this year, finishing 4th in the men’s race.

Maria Biskopstø is only 11, but she is without doubt a name we will be hearing a lot of in running circles over the next 40 years. They say she is even more stubborn than her father (Photo: Gutti)

Bragdið will no doubt be crowing loudly tonight as well. Two Faroese records and a gold medal were brought home. Sprint king Rói Holgarsson, who recently set records at 50 and 60 metres, tried his hand at 200 metres today. Once again he proved that he is the Faroe Islands’ sprint king, claiming his third indoor record. His time was 23.55, though it was only good enough for 8th place against some explosive Icelanders.

Sára Debesardóttir (left) confirmed the A standard with 29.36 sec. in the 200 m (Photo: Gutti)

Then came the girls’ 60 metres. First Edna Maria Debes of Hvirlan had taken Tinna Berg Jørgensen’s old record, but just five minutes later Hildur Poulsen of Bragdið came along and shaved another 3/100 of a second off the brand-new record, which ended up at 8.70 seconds. Bragdið’s only medals came in one and the same race. Here it was Teitur Bjarnastein who did the business. In a thrilling finishing sprint Teitur proved the more tenacious and won a well-deserved gold medal in a superb time of 2:04.93. Steingrímur Hallsson came third, in no man’s land. He was not entirely happy with the time, but very happy with what was hanging round his neck. Sára Debesardóttir also ran a good 200 metres and confirmed the A standard with 29.36, which earned her a fine 5th place in Girls 15.

Teitur Bjarnastein (left) and Steingrímur Hallsson won gold and bronze respectively in the 800 metres (photo: Gutti)

Gold and Faroese records also went to Hvirlan today. Marita K. Petersen was just 13 cm short of bronze in the Girls 15 long jump. But her result of 4.43 was a good improvement on her own Faroese record from last year (4.15). Marita finished 5th. And then there was Edna Maria Debes’s record in the 60 metres, which only got to stand for five minutes.

Rigmor crosses the finish line at the end of the 3,000 m (Photo: Gutti)

Hvirlan’s gold medal today came from none other than Rigmor N. Arge. She won the women’s 3,000 m, in which she was the only participant. But Rigmor’s time shows there is still plenty of strength left in her.

Sára (left), A standard in the 200 m. Edna Maria (centre), Faroese record in the 60 metres for 5 minutes, and Marita K. Petersen, new Faroese indoor record in the long jump (4.43 m)

This quick run-through of the Faroese results has focused only on records and medals. But a quick look shows that almost all the Faroese athletes made good progress, and no doubt a whole host of personal bests were set today. And that is at least as important as records and medals!

Tomorrow there will again be plenty of events with Faroese participation. Those of us sitting here at home are following closely and wish you all over there the very best of luck.