Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
Behind door 11 is the story of the Faroe Islands’ fastest woman, so I think it is also fitting to have a story about the fastest man the Faroe Islands has ever had. Perhaps some people will be surprised by who this man is. It is now a good few years since I heard about an old sprinting career at a very high level. To be honest, I was surprised myself, and I have long meant to tell a little about his achievements.
And what could be more fitting than the man with the Father Christmas beard, who sells fine Christmas presents at Káta Hornið, getting his own door in FÍF’s Advent calendar? Yes, you guessed right. The fastest man ever in the Faroe Islands can usually be seen in the Tutl shop, and his name is Kristian Blak. In the early 70s Kristian represented AGF, which year after year fought a hard duel with Skovbakken for the Danish athletics title. Skovbakken’s team included the legendary middle-distance runner Tom B. Hansen, who held almost all the Danish middle-distance records, and the no less legendary high jumper Jesper Tørring, who even became European champion in the high jump in 1974.
Here he is: the Faroe Islands’ fastest man! 41 years ago he ran 100 m in 10.8 seconds!
But the AGF team had its stars too. Besides Kristian Blak there were the throwers Kaj Andersen and Erik Fisker and the runners Wigmar Petersen and Claus Børsen. Claus Børsen, who among other things ran the 3,000 m steeplechase at the Olympic Games, I got to know a little myself when I was running in Odense. Claus was still running then, and was about 55 years old at the time.
Kristian Blak started out as a 400 m runner. He got reasonable results, but it was not until he started running the 100 m and 200 m that things really took off. And how. From running around 50-51 seconds in the 400 m, he went on to run under 11 seconds in the 100. His best year was 1972, when all his personal bests were set. The records are these:
- 100 m – 10.8 sec – 18 June 1972
- 200 m – 22.6 sec – 27 June 1972
- 400 m – 50.?? – 1972
- long jump – 7.10 m – 11 May 1972
All these results came at a time when Kristian had plenty on his plate. He was then a 25-year-old upper secondary school teacher in Fredericia. On top of his normal teaching, he also taught PE, so he ended up with almost double the number of lessons. In addition, he owned a schooner, which he spent a lot of time on. Kristian says that in one race he got three hand-timed times. One was 10.5 sec, one was 10.6 sec and the last 10.8 sec, which was the one that was ratified.
Kristian loves Faroese nature, and not least he enjoys sailing. This trip on the Norðlýsið no doubt reminds him of the good old days on board his own schooner.
Kristian’s times are well inside the current Faroese records, which are held by Heini Hátún. (100 m – 11.27 sec, 200 m – 23.00 sec) The question, then, is how far Kristian could have gone had he not moved to the Faroe Islands at the age of 26. At that time there was practically no athletics in the Faroe Islands, and the facilities were completely impossible as well. Even so, Kristian tried to do a bit of training with the boys up at the upper secondary school, and one particularly fast youngster he remembers is Leo Poulsen. The man from Nólsoy later became a fine weapon in the B36 attack in the early 80s.
It is no secret that it is from music that we know Kristian Blak.
It is now a long time since Kristian Blak was among the very best sprinters in Denmark. And back then not nearly as many photos were taken as nowadays. Kristian has tried to get hold of a photo from AGF, but this has not succeeded – yet. But if the photo turns up, you will not be cheated out of seeing the Faroe Islands’ fastest man in action.
