Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
This morning the athletics got under way at the Island Games in Bermuda. First to compete were the two high jumpers Øssur Debes Eiriksfoss and Trygvi Laksafoss. As we wrote yesterday, hopes were high that Øssur would challenge in the battle for medals, while Trygvi was going to find it hard with a knee injury and having to take off from the wrong leg. Trygvi cleared the opening height of 165 cm, and that also became his result.
Silver and a Faroese record for athletics ace Øssur Debes Eiriksfoss. He jumped 2.01 metres today!!
Øssur entered the competition later and cleared 180 cm, 185 cm, 190 cm, 195 cm and 198 cm, all at the first attempt. At that point the fourth-last jumper went out, and the bronze was secured. Now the medals were to be shared between one Faroe Islander and two from Bermuda. Øssur himself holds the Faroese record of 200 cm, but now the bar was set at 201 cm. One of the Bermuda jumpers cleared it at his second attempt, while Øssur’s first two attempts were far from successful. But on the third attempt, his eighth jump of the morning, we got a new Faroese record and new life was breathed into the battle for gold when Øssur became the first Faroe Islander to clear 201 cm.
Trygvi Laksafoss slips over 165 cm.
So now everything was to be decided at 204 cm, and only Øssur and one jumper from Bermuda were left. Øssur had two failed attempts against one for his opponent, so he had to clear 204 cm to overtake him. Neither of them got over, but on his second attempt Øssur was well above the bar. However, the momentum in the jump was not good enough, and so he came down on the bar before he could get cleanly over. Yes, the gold slipped away in an instant! But silver and a Faroese record is more than respectable – indeed, this was a fantastic achievement by Øssur, which we are all delighted about.
…..safely over and a new Faroese record.
The heats of the 100 metres were also run this morning, and here we had Rói Holgarsson in the third and final heat, which looked to be an evenly strong heat a little above Faroese level. Rói’s start was very good, and he stayed with the leaders out to 40–50 metres, when he began to fall behind. One of Rói’s goals was to set a personal best, which is 11.35 seconds. He just missed out on that. Rói finished fourth in the heat in 11.39. Overall he placed 12th of the 17 sprinters, and Rói was not entirely satisfied with that.
Rói Holgarsson was well in the mix early on in the 100 m. With 11.39 seconds he was 4/100 off his best result.
The last event this morning was Rúni Seloy’s 800 metres heat. There were three heats, and in the first round Rúni avoided the big guns, so hopes of a place in the final were good. The plan was for him to take it very easy and follow the pace right up to the sprint finish. This went exactly as planned. At 600 metres he got into a good position in second place, and from 150 to 80 metres he moved confidently into the lead. He held the lead all the way to the line and secured a place in the final, which will be run on Tuesday evening. Rúni’s time in this tactical race was 2:02.48 min.
Rúni Seloy cruises to the line and a safe place in the final. He will run the final on Tuesday evening.
This evening come the two 10,000 metres finals for men and women, where we have Marnar Djurhuus and Valborg Heinesen competing.
The athletics results can be read here
