Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
Once again today we got a Faroese “Icelandic champion”, and once again it was one of our strong women who pulled it off. Marna Egholm, who won three medals at the Island Games around the turn of last month, showed today that this was definitely no fluke. Marna, who otherwise mostly runs the very longest distances, tried the 3,000 metres for the first time today, which was also the shortest distance she has ever raced.
The talented Andrea Kolbeinsdóttir was the favourite to win. She quickly took the lead, but it was clear that she could not put Marna under any real pressure. Our Bjørk Herup Olsen also ran here and stayed with them for the first 1,000 metres, before she gradually had to watch the others slowly pull away. Andrea’s lap times got a little faster with every lap, but it was still clear that Marna had plenty in reserve. Over the last two laps it was Marna who picked up the pace, and the Icelandic woman struggled to keep up. With 200 metres to go Andrea made a surge, intending to get past and in to the kerb. But Marna responded and kept Andrea out in lane two. From there to the finish it all became one long, even sprint, with neither willing to give in. Marna managed to hold the gap all the way and was half a second ahead of the young Icelandic girl. Marna’s time was 10:09.38.
The finish is approaching and the Icelandic woman tries to squeeze past. Marna kicked and would not give way.
Just 16 seconds behind, Bjørk Herup Olsen crossed the line in 9:25.33. This is only 20 seconds off her Faroese record, and a good sign that she may soon return to her old form.
Bjørk and Marna very pleased after the 3,000 m
Tórur Mortensen set a good personal best in the triple jump today. He did it as early as the first round, jumping 13.57 metres, 25 centimetres further than his old personal best. It is very exciting to follow Tórur’s progress, which is moving at full speed – in both the long jump and the triple jump. In his third jump Tórur proved his worth again, once more jumping beyond his old best, this time 13.43 metres. With his 13.57 metres Tórur managed to finish second in the competition. Together with fourth place in the long jump, Tórur has had two very good days of competition in Reykjavík.
Tórur Mortensen plans to jump even further later this year
Otherwise, the day began with Margit Weihe running in the 200 metres heats. She won her heat in 27.62, which is a little off her best. Overall Margit was fourth fastest in the heats and would have had a place in the final – that is, had she been Icelandic. Faroese athletes were not allowed to take one of the six lanes in the final. When the final was run later in the day, it was very disappointing for us to see that only four had turned up – and judging by the results of the final, it is quite conceivable that Margit would have finished third.
Margit had really good speed and won her heat. She felt she must have been very close to her Faroese record (27.21) and is therefore looking at the results board in disbelief.
Rebekka Fuglø, who won the 1,500 metres yesterday, ran the 800 metres today, where she was up against world star Aníta Hinriksdóttir. The Icelandic star seemed to be having a very good day and ran as hard as she could from the very first step. All that was left for Rebekka was to battle for second place and try to run the best time she could. The first lap went as it should. The split was spot on, and Birkisdóttir in third place seemed to start dropping back. On the second lap second place was firmly secured, but the pace did not hold, and Rebekka finally clocked 2:15.47, which is around three seconds off her Faroese record.
Rebekka tries to get away from Maria Birkisdóttir, while Regin Thomsen calls out the 200 m split.
Rúni Seloy was in the same situation as Rebekka: 1,500 m yesterday and 800 m today. The race was to be run in two heats, with Rúni in the second. But without being told anything, the two heats were merged, and Rúni therefore missed the last part of his warm-up. A little unsettling, but there was nothing to do but run. There were many strong runners in the field, and Rúni settled at the back to bide his time. It turned into a hard race, with Rúni fighting to move up a few places. We have often seen Rúni fade over the last 100 metres, but it was good to see him hold his position today in tough competition. Rúni finished sixth of the nine runners in 1:58.86.
Rúni in tough competition for the full 800 metres – good to see him strong over the last 100 metres.
Edna Maria Debes also got a top placing today. In the triple jump she managed to work her way all the way up to third place. She did this by jumping 9.76, sneaking two centimetres further than the athlete in fourth. Edna Maria jumped consistently well today, with five good jumps.
Edna Maria Debes battled hard and finished third in the triple jump.
The last of our athletes in action today was discus thrower Hallur Simonsen. Hallur rather unexpectedly won a silver medal at the Island Games, and so had something to live up to among all the many strong Icelandic discus throwers. His first throw turned out to be his best, and was also Hallur’s third-best throw in competition. The tape measure said 43.00, and that was enough for fifth place in a close competition.
Hallur Simonsen got another good result in the discus
And then it was the relay – 4 x 400 metres. Here it is Rebekka with the baton in her hand
The 4 x 400 m team: Bjørk, Rebekka, Marna and Margit. Only two teams took part, and we finished second in 4:24.17.
After the competition the Faroese team was celebrated
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