Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
Only a few hours remain until the first event of the World Championships in Beijing gets under way. At half past twelve Faroese time the men’s marathon starts, and the usual duel between Kenya and Ethiopia is expected. Kimetto, who set the world record in Berlin in 2014 and became the first man under 2:03, is perhaps a slight favourite along with Kiprotich, who has run just over 2:03. Africa is very well represented among the 66 runners, accounting for about half of them. It will be hard to spot any Western Europeans, but perhaps we can root for David Nilsson of Sweden and Henri Manninen of Finland, although they are unlikely to be seen on screen.
The Faroe Islands have worked closely with, and competed a great deal against, the Icelanders and the Danes. It is therefore fun for our athletes to follow the Danish and Icelandic athletes who have made it through the eye of the needle into the stadiums in Beijing. Denmark has three athletes there. Andreas Bube runs the 800 m heats early tomorrow morning, where he has been drawn in the same heat as David Lekuta Rudisha, who holds the world record for the distance, among others. They run in the sixth and final heat. Denmark also has Sara Slott Petersen and Stina Troest, who both run the 400 m hurdles. The Danes are especially excited about Sara Slott, who has shown tremendous strength in recent months. Their heats are on Sunday.
From the European Championships final, when Bube sneaked through in lane one and nearly caught everyone out. Only Borzakowskyi managed to keep the Dane behind him.
For us Faroese, it is perhaps especially fun to follow Iceland’s Anita Hinriksdóttir, whom we have followed since she was a little girl. She has already won several European youth titles at 800 m, and the last time we saw her was when she became Icelandic champion, with our own Rebekka Fuglø finishing second. Iceland also has the strong javelin thrower Ásdis Hjálmsdóttir, who among other things competed in the final at the last Olympic Games.
Many Faroese people know Anita Hinriksdóttir and will follow her race with excitement. Hopefully she will manage to run her way into the semi-final
The World Athletics Championships is a huge – truly gigantic – event. 207 nations are taking part, with a total of 2,000 athletes and 1,700 coaches and support staff. 500 officials and 2,800 helpers, 4,300 journalists with 113 film crews inside the stadium, who should keep you comfortable on the sofa for the next 10 days.
Follow the World Championships at this link: http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships
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