Margit sixth and Alda into the semi-final

Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.

The first day of competition at the Island Games is now over, and five of our athletes have now competed at the Island Games for the first time.

The very first athletics event at this year’s Island Games was the women’s 100 m, and in the first heat Alda Sigurðsdóttir Lamhauge was ready in lane four. She had been drawn in a strong heat, where all the others had run faster than Alda, and they had all even run under 13 seconds before.

There was a good deal of wind at Gutavallen in Visby this evening. The wind was blowing straight into the runners’ faces, and it seemed to slow them down quite a lot. With 13.58 seconds in -2.08 m/s, Alda finished fourth in her heat. There were four heats in total, with the first two in each heat plus the four fastest times going through to the semi-finals tomorrow at 11:00.

Alda gives it everything she has and battles her way through to the semi-finals

In the fourth heat we had Elisabet Holm Simonsen, who was also making her first Island Games start. But by now the headwind had grown to 4.95 m/s, and that showed in the result for the Faroese champion and Faroese record holder, who finished in 13.94 seconds. This was not enough to reach the semi-finals, but Alda’s time proved to be good enough, and with the 10th best time of the day she secured a fine place in the semi-finals.

In the strong headwind Elisabet had to settle for sixth place in an otherwise very close heat

So we will be heading back to the stadium full of anticipation at 11:00 tomorrow to support Alda, when the 100 m semi-finals are on the programme.

Margit Weihe Fríðmundsdóttir was the first Faroese woman in 28 years, and only the second ever, to represent the Faroe Islands in the long jump at the Island Games. The other was Andrea Nielsen from Sandavágur, who represented us on home soil in 1989.

And Margit represented our islands in the best possible way. 15 women took part in the competition. They each had three jumps in the opening round, after which the eight best would go on to compete in the final. With 4.82 m, which Margit jumped in the third round, she was in sixth place and so earned herself a fairly safe place in the final.

Margit makes her mark in her first Island Games competition. Here is her longest jump – 4.94 metres

With her first jump in the final round, Margit improved for the fourth jump in a row. This time she jumped further than ever before. Indeed, further than any Faroese woman has ever jumped. 4.94 metres is nine centimetres longer than the Faroese record, and one centimetre longer than the indoor record. She holds both herself. However, the wind was too strong for the jump to be ratified as a record.

Margit did not get beyond 4.94 metres, but she held on to her sixth place, and so got off to a very good start in what will hopefully be a long Island Games career in athletics.

The fourth Faroese athlete today in their first Island Games competition was Oddvør Josephsen, who competed in the 400 m. We had hoped she would manage to run her way into the semi-finals. But today things did not go to plan for Oddvør. It looked good at first, but at halfway she began to fade. Her strength vanished like dew in the sun, and the result did not match the races she has had earlier this year. The feisty and strong-willed Oddvør will, however, get another chance in the 800 metres and in the relays.

Oddvør Josephsen got off to a tough start at her first Island Games. Here she sets off

Julian Gregersen did not manage to reach the 800 m final either. Julian Gregersen, who was the fifth Faroese athlete of the day in their first Island Games competition, finished fourth in the second heat with a time of 2:00.20. This was about one and a half seconds away from being among the lucky eight who will compete in the final. On the last day of competition Julian will try his hand at the 1,500 metres.

Julian Gregersen fought with everything he had, but it was not enough for a place in the final

Tomorrow there is not much on the programme for our team. Only Alda S. Lamhauge, Marna Egholm and Jan Elmar Sørensen are due on the track. Tomorrow, however, we get started on the events where we believe we have a chance of medals.

• 11:00 – Alda Sigurðsdóttir Lamhauge – 100 m semi-final
• 17:00 – Marna Egholm – 10,000 m final
• 18:50 – Jan Elmar Sørensen – 3,000 m steeplechase

Photos