Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
In total, 10 athletes will represent the Faroe Islands in athletics at the Island Games. Only three of them have competed at the Island Games before. That means no fewer than seven new faces will be seen in the FÍF kit on Gotland this summer.
Somewhat unusually, we now have several sprinters in the team. The last men to run the 100 m were Heini Hátún and Ási Mikkelsen in 1999 and Rói Holgarsson in 2013. For the women, we have to go back to the Island Games in the Faroe Islands in 1989. We now have so many fast women that there are prospects of strong teams in both relays.
Rebekka Fuglø, 24, Treysti, will be our most experienced participant. She first competed in Åland in 2009 and has been at every Games since. This will be her fifth Island Games. Last time she won silver in the 800 metres.
Rebekka Fuglø was first selected for the youth national team in 2004 and has been a regular fixture ever since. She is now by far the most experienced member of the national team
Marna Egholm, 36, Bragdið/Sparta is still relatively new to athletics, but will be our oldest participant. She competed for the first time two years ago in Jersey, where she won silver in the 10,000 m, bronze in the 5,000 m and bronze in the half marathon team event together with Bjørk H. Olsen.
Marna Egholm, pictured here at the Nordic Championships over 10,000 m, won the Danish Championships in the marathon in 2016 and is one of our strongest cards.
Tórur Mortensen, 18, Hvirlan, also competed at his first Games in Jersey, where he did the long jump and triple jump. Since then he has made huge progress and is now one of our very strongest cards
Tórur pictured in training at Tórsbreyt. He won the Danish indoor title in the triple jump in 2016 and is also one of our strongest cards
Jan Elmar Sørensen, 25, Treysti will compete for the first time. He is a long-distance runner and perhaps performs best in the half marathon. However, he has shown that he can also run very fast on the track, all the way down to 5,000 metres.
Jan Elmar pictured after a hard-fought race at Nya Ullevi. At the Island Games he will run the ½ marathon, among other events
Elisabet Holm Simonsen, 16, Bragdið will compete for the first time. Last summer she became Faroese champion in the 100 m for the first time and later set a Faroese record. We can expect to see her in the 100 and 200 metres as well as in the relays
Photo finish from last summer, when Elisabet took the 100 metres record. She ran 13.08 seconds, and will hopefully manage it again at the Island Games
Alda S. Lamhauge, 18, Hvirlan will compete for the first time. Alda came close to being selected two years ago, when she just missed out in the 1o0 metres. Like Elisabet, we can expect to see Alda in the 100 and 200 metres as well as in the relays.
Alda, pictured at Tórsbreyt at the Faroese Championships last summer – will she take the Faroese 100 m record back from Elisabet?
Margit Weihe Fríðmundsdóttir, 18, Bragdið has met several qualification standards for the Island Games. Over the last two years she has set Faroese records in the long jump, triple jump and 200 metres. These will also be her events at the Island Games, and she will also run in the relays.
Margit competing at Tórsbreyt. 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, long jump and triple jump – yes, the Faroese record is always in danger when Margit competes
Rúni Jacobsen, 22, Hvirlan/Sparta will be the first Faroese athlete in 18 years to run the 100 metres at the Island Games. He has been the Faroe Islands’ sprint king for about two years now. He is also expected to run the 200 metres.
Rúni – the Faroese Usain Bolt. He has been closing in on the Faroese records in both the 100 m and 200 m – will it happen this summer?
Oddvør Josephsen, 16, Treysti will compete for the first time. Already at the age of 14 she set a Faroese indoor record in the 400 metres, but she also performs very well over 800 metres. So these will be her distances at the Island Games, and we can also expect to see her in the relays.
Oddvør at Tórsbreyt – not so tall, but her aggressive and determined running style has already earned her her first Faroese records
Julian Gregersen, 18, Treysti will compete for the first time. He will defend Faroese honour in middle-distance running, and will run both the 800 and 1,500 metres.
Julian (no. 2) in pouring rain at Nya Ullevi – the combative Klaksvík native is improving rapidly.
All in all, an exciting young team. Without much Island Games experience. On the other hand, most of them have done athletics for many years and have extensive competition experience from elsewhere. Both at home and abroad.
Unfortunately, four young participants from the 2015 Games are not taking part this year. Hallur Simonsen, who won silver in the discus, has unfortunately stopped throwing for the time being, while Hanus Bergsson, who finished a very unlucky fourth, has had a long-term injury. Rúni Seloy and Bjørk Herup Olsen have both taken a break from running. Both have now chosen to prioritise their studies, and hope that the many injuries they have had will heal. They are all still very young, and hopefully we will see them again in an Island Games context.
The national team in Jersey two years ago. Hopefully we will see Hanus, Hallur, Bjørk and Rúni again another time.
In addition, there were several others who came very close to Island Games selection. Unfortunately we have no throwers this time, but there are already signs that we could have a strong team next time. The young women in particular look strong and capable.
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