Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
Over the past three days FÍF has had a very exciting visit. None other than the president of European Athletics, Svein Arne Hansen, was on board the Atlantic flight that arrived from Bergen around midday on Monday. Also on the trip were Ole Petter Sandvig and Kalle Glomsaker. Both are members of the Annlegsutvalget at Norsk Friidrett and have extensive experience in building, maintaining and repairing tracks.
On Monday we went straight to Svangaskarð, where the mayor of Nes Municipality, Jóhannus Danielsen, and the chair of the technical committee, Niclas Davidsen, welcomed us. They explained the history of the developments at Svangaskarð and the plans to enclose the old pitch and the whole running track. This sounds like a very exciting project.
Of course we also looked at the damage to the track, which the Norwegian technicians assessed. Around 100 square metres will have to be relaid, because the ground has subsided and the track has cracked.
Ole Petter, Kalle and Svein Arne in the canteen at Svangaskarð
From there we went straight to Klaksvík, where Dávur Winther from Klaksvík Municipality presented the plans for building a new track. The Norwegians were very pleased with what they saw, and also offered plenty of good advice. As they say, no municipality gets used to building tracks; you only do it once. Ole Petter has followed the construction of more than 100 tracks, and so knows everything about which mistakes can be made and which pitfalls you can fall into. The chair of Treysti, Andrias Josephsen, and Guttorm Sørensen were also at the meeting, as was Signhild Johannesen, chair of the culture committee.
We also found time for a drive to Viðareiði, a walk up the Lovers’ Path, a trip north to Strond and a visit to Treysti in the badminton hall. Then a good bite to eat at Gepetto before they headed south to Tórshavn.
Olle Petter, Kalle, Ásvald and Gutti. Gutti told them about the hall and Treysti
On Tuesday morning they were at the Løgting, where Óli Breckmann told them the history of the Faroe Islands, from the settlement right up to the present day. They were very taken with the history, which in so many ways leads back to Norway.
Óli Breckmann told the story, Svein Arne listened, and the Speaker of the Løgting, Jonhard Klettheyggj, was the host.
Then we went up to Tórsbreyt and into the equipment room to show them the facilities in Tórshavn. They were very pleased to see FÍF’s equipment and the conditions in the equipment room itself. Compared with Norwegian conditions, the equipment room is well above average. They did, however, note wear and moss on the track, and they also commented on the missing kerbs and pole vault equipment.
After the tour of Tórsbreyt there was a meeting with FÍF. Svein Arne said that he is truly willing to do everything he can to help the Faroe Islands move forward. The association agreement between FÍF and Dansk Atletikforbund was discussed, and Svein Arne is happy to support us in a possible change to the agreement. He also wants to help and support us towards possible membership of the IAAF, even though this goes against the rules. But rules can be bent. To make the Faroe Islands better known among the other countries in Europe, there was concrete talk of holding a meeting here at home for the European Commity, which is a 9-member committee under European Athletics. FÍF is willing to take on this hosting role and we look forward to the task.
Kalle, Jóannes, Ole Petter and Gutti walled in
Late in the afternoon we went to Kirkjubøur, where Jóannes Patursson welcomed us. Here the Norwegian guests got even more insight into Norwegian history that they knew nothing about beforehand. The story of King Sverre and the Birkebeiners captivated them.
On Tuesday evening ÍSF hosted a dinner for FÍF and the guests. A home-hospitality dinner in Velbastaður was the setting for the evening, which turned out to be very enjoyable. That evening showed very clearly how big a difference there is between being an internationally recognised federation and not being one. The vice-chair of ÍSF, Jon Hestoy, was chair of the Swimming Federation for many years and has left his Faroese mark in so many places around the sporting world. It was very interesting to discover that the president of European Athletics and SSF should have so many mutual acquaintances around the world.
On Wednesday morning we visited the Norwegian consul in the Faroe Islands, the lawyer Petur Even Djurhuus. He too was able to tell us about little-known Norwegian history in the Faroe Islands. Among other things, he told us about the many Norwegians who fled from the Nazis in 1940. Around 100 ended up in the Faroe Islands, and Petur Even could tell us about the fate of some of them. Several of the Norwegian surnames in the Faroe Islands come from these people.
Finally, Jákup Símun Simonsen showed us Bank Nordik’s new bank building before the party left at midday on Wednesday.
We will write more about the visit a little later.
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