Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
A few days ago an interesting letter dropped through FÍF’s door. The letter was from the association “Athletics Friends”, an international organisation with a special focus on the history of athletics. It is an organisation which, rather than letting history die, tries to bring it back to life by returning once-proud names to the spotlight. Every other year this organisation holds a special competition for athletes who have achieved something quite exceptional.
This year’s competition will be held at the tradition-rich Bislet Stadium in Oslo, and Absalon says he is as excited as a small child, because it has always been his dream to run at Bislet, where he himself has seen many a world record in long-distance running fall. The reason the choice fell on Absalon in particular is that he is the only man who has won a marathon at the Island Games, which makes him rather unique, even though the marathon was only run that one time. The organisation noticed Absalon because David Chupku, secretary of Athletics Friends, saw Søren Ryge’s TV programme at his home in Luton, in which Absalon appears to run half the length of Streymoy in wellies. When the programme then revealed that Absalon had also been Faroese champion in cycling, chess, football, table tennis, badminton, rowing, sheepdog trialling, judo and vaulting, the matter was settled: Absalon was going to Bislet!
There will be many big names in the competition. Among others, the American sprinter Carl Lewis will also take part. He earned his place for winning the 100 m, 200 m, long jump and 4×100 m at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Wilson Kipketer, the Danish Kenyan who held the 800 m world record for several years, will be at Bislet. To generate even more talk about the event, Athletics Friends have invited the top scorers at the 1982 and 1990 football World Cups to the competition. They are the two Italians Paolo Rossi and Salvatore Scilacci. It has been decided that the distance to be run is 250 metres. This is so that everyone has roughly equal chances of winning.
Asked what chances he thinks he has, Absalon says that he intends to beat Carl Lewis in any case, because the last time he saw him, he looked a bit old and fat. “And I’ve never lost to a footballer,” Absalon adds when we ask whether he has any chance against the World Cup top scorers. When the conversation turns to his chances against Wilson, Absalon is more doubtful. “We’re only running 250 metres, but if it had been a bit longer, I’d definitely have had a good chance. I usually run 400-metre intervals on the treadmill, at a terrific pace. Over the coming weeks I’ll bring that down to 300 metres and run even faster, so Wilson shouldn’t feel too safe either. And who says he’s in shape?” Absalon says, ending the interview.
Absalon on Saturday.
The competition takes place on Great Prayer Day. To give Absalon full support, the board has decided to travel to Bislet at full strength to stand behind Absalon’s attempt to win this prestigious competition. This is also to raise FÍF’s profile and build new connections, which may later prove to be worth their weight in gold. After the competition the group will go on a ski trip to Hemsedal and will be back home 14 days later.
Those who can watch Norwegian TV2 have something to look forward to, as the competition will be shown live there.
