Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
It would take some time before women really began to make their mark in athletics. The first Island Games, on the Isle of Man in 1985 and in Guernsey in 1987, had no Faroese women. Several women took part in the Games in the Faroe Islands, and Magna Thomassen even managed to win bronze in the discus. After that, one woman competed in 1991, and then a full eight years would pass before we again had women on the team. Three of them, in fact: the runners Sunniva Bjarnastein and Rigmor N. Arge and the shot putter Ingibjørg Poulsen.
The 1999 team: Back row from left: Guttorm Sørensen, Sunniva Bjarnastein, Ingibjørg Poulsen, Rigmor N. Arge and Sølvi R. Hansen. Front row from left: Freddie Poulsen, Ási Mikkelsen, Heri Ziska, Heini Hátún and Niels Jákup Jakobsen, team leader.
And they had not just come along to enjoy themselves. When everything was totted up, they had won a total of three silver and two bronze medals! Most of these were won in fiercely close races. In the 5,000 m, Sunniva finished in bronze-medal position in 19:01.1 min, almost the same time as the silver medallist but judged to be behind. And just two seconds further back, the fourth woman crossed the line! The 10,000 m was exciting again. The Greenlandic winner finished in 40:27.77 min, just one second ahead of Sunniva, who clocked 40:28.77 min. Here Rigmor came sixth in 41:29.09.
A super-fit Rigmor ready for battle. Just missing a B in front of the number
Things looked promising in the half marathon. Rigmor was known for running at almost the same pace whether she ran 10 km or a half marathon, and with Sunniva in good form, the team’s medal hopes were high too. This race also ended with medals – two of them, in fact. Rigmor ran to a secure silver medal in 1:29:09, while Sunniva, in 1:32:50 and fifth place, helped secure the team silver behind Jersey, who had both the first and third runners across the line.
Rigmor and Sunniva heading to the silver medal presentation after the team competition in the half marathon
The third Faroese woman to make her Island Games debut in 1999 was the shot putter Ingibjørg Poulsen. And if Sunniva’s races were close, Ingibjørg’s competition was even closer. Numbers three, four and five all finished with a result of 10.50 metres. So they looked at who had the second-longest throw, and here Ingibjørg was strongest with 10.44 m, and so her first Island Games competition ended with a medal.
Ingibjørg Poulsen won bronze in her first Island Games competition. She holds the Faroese records in the shot put (10.92 m) and discus (30.05 m)
The men, however, did not want to be outdone by the women, and as before it was Heri Ziska who guaranteed medals. In the discus he won a crushing victory! He not only had the best throw in the competition, but also the second best, third best, fourth best, fifth best and seventh best!! It can hardly get better than that. The hammer competition was very tough, and it took a new Faroese record to win bronze! Heri’s last throw in the competition – 48.92 m – is still the Faroese record today.
Even though 3 is the sponsor, Heri tries to slip a gold medal round his neck. It worked perfectly!
The last medal on Gotland came in the long jump. Ási Mikkelsen was trying to defend his gold medal from Jersey 1997. And he came not far from succeeding, had it not been for a strong man from Rhodes. But with 6.96 metres it was a secure silver medal.
Otherwise we did rather well in the 100 m that year. Ási Mikkelsen (11.52) and Heini Hátún (11.56) both reached the semi-finals, having competed against 27 sprinters in the heats. They ended up in separate semi-finals. Heini ran first, clocking 11.51 and finishing 4th. Then Ási ran 11.46. He also finished 4th, but his time was just good enough to get him into the final. There he ran 11.46 again and finished sixth.
Of course everything had to be just right. For that purpose, Ólavur Hátún himself had been called in!
“And the leader is here…….yes, everyone knows Sjákup……
Good times and team spirit
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