Iceland: Can the © by IAAF 23:1; 37-Xx, 2008 “Third Surge” Last?
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CASE STUDY Iceland: Can the © by IAAF 23:1; 37-xx, 2008 “Third Surge” last? By Bill Glad and Jonas Egilsson ABSTRACT AUTHORS Although there have never been as many Bill Glad is the Member Services Manag- young, promising and motivated athletes er of European Athletics and a Consultant as can be found in Iceland today, there Editor of New Studies and Athletics. are important issues for the sport to address if its current success is to contin- Jonas Egilsson was the president of the ue. The authors’ aims are to describe ath- Icelandic athletics federation, the Frjal- letics in Iceland and provide insight and sithrottasamband Islands (FRI), from ideas for others interested in the develop- 1997 to 2006 and a member of the Euro- ment of the sport. They do this by pre- pean Athletics Council from 2003 to senting a brief history of Icelandic athlet- 2007. He currently works as consultant in ics and auditing dimensions of seven key the areas sport, education and tourism. drivers of development: 1) Structure, Management and Administration, 2) Facilities, 3) Competition Opportunities, 4) Coaching, 5) Officiating, 6) Scientific & Medical Support, 7) Athletics Culture. there have been notable achievements for the Drawing on interviews with leaders and small island nation on the international level. observers of the sport and official docu- However, the sport’s position remains deli- ments for data, they give a detailed cate, poised on a knife-edge between contin- description of the present situation and ued growth and decline. Although there has the factors shaping it. They conclude that never been as many young, promising and the leaders of Icelandic athletics have motivated athletes as there are in Iceland reasonable strategies and there is a case today, there are important and sometimes dif- for optimism about the future. ficult issues for the sport’s leadership to address. In both cases the earlier surges fizzled out and were followed by times in which Ice- Introduction landic athletics stagnated and lost much of its popularity and relevance to society. The thletics in Iceland is currently enjoy- big question now is: will the pattern of rise ing what some observers have and fall continue or will the sport be able to A called the “Third Surge”. Bringing to capitalise on the current momentum and mind two previous golden ages of sustained develop further? success in the mid and late twentieth century, it is a period in which the trend in participation Although only time will provide the definitive has been upwards, the country’s athletes answer, indications can be found in the have rewritten the national record books and responses to the interrelated challenges that New Studies in Athletics • no. 1/2008 47 Iceland: Can the “Third Surge” last? are faced by athletics leaders in most coun- tries, including: Iceland Facts • Strengthening the sport’s structures so they can adapt to a changing environment Area: 103,000 km2 and deliver services of the quality that ath- Population (2006): 312.000 (3.0 per km2) letes, volunteers, stakeholders and the Capital: Reykjavik – pop.: 117,700 public expect; GDP per capita (2007): US$ 54,427 • Competing successfully for new partici- Government: Republic from 17 June pants with other sports and an ever-grow- 1944, Independent from 1 December ing range of leisure activities in a society 1918 that is becoming increasingly urbanised, Source: www.iceland.is affluent and influenced by the media; • Nurturing talented athletes and providing the coaching and competition opportuni- History2 ties they need to develop and deliver world-class performances; 1907-1958: • Delivering high quality events and pro- The early years and the Golden Age grammes that attract attention, make the sport “sellable” and bring the recognition With evidence of training activities from as required for it to play a significant role in early as 1907, the history of athletics in Iceland society; stretches back at least 100 years. The coun- • Building a resource base that is sufficient ty’s first Olympian, Jon Halldorsson, compet- and sustainable. ed in the 100m at the 1912 Games in Stock- holm representing Denmark, which controlled Clues to how these challenges might be the country at the time3. Iceland’s inaugural met in a particular country can be found national athletics championships were staged through analysis of the context in which the in 1927 and for decades afterwards the event sport operates there – its history, its current was one of the county’s main sporting and circumstances and structures, the measures entertainment fixtures each summer. that have been implemented in the past and the strategies for the future. Although Iceland was relatively primitive in economic terms when full independence was Our aim in this case study is to present a achieved in 1944, the only real disadvantage description of athletics in Iceland and the fac- its athletes had compared to their internation- tors that are shaping the current situation in al counterparts was the country’s isolated the hope that it provides insight and ideas for position in the middle of the north Atlantic, athletic federations and others with an interest three hours flight time from the nearest neigh- in the development of the sport. To do so we bour country. Its grass fields and the cinder have analysed seven areas seen as important track in the national stadium were compara- to development1, identified key dimensions ble to the facilities in Europe and as few, if any, within each area, and found one or more indi- countries were providing state support to ath- cators for each dimension. This audit is based letes at the time, it did not matter that such mainly on interviews conducted with the support was undreamt of in Iceland. Impor- national athletic federation’s leaders and other tantly, as an individual sport in a small nation observers of the sport in February 2008. It (the population at the time was less than also draws on information from various Ice- 130,000), athletics was better positioned than landic publications and data from official doc- team games to move beyond being a purely uments produced by the federation and the domestic sport and feed Icelandic society’s country’s combined national sport confedera- strong feelings of nationalism by providing tion/national Olympic committee. international success. 48 New Studies in Athletics • no. 1/2008 Iceland: Can the “Third Surge” last? The first golden age of Icelandic athletics began with Gunnar Huseby winning the shot Vilhjalmur Einarsson put gold medal and five of his countrymen making it to the finals of their events at the With his second round jump of 16.26m 1946 European Championships in Oslo. With Einarsson bettered the Olympic record this, Iceland was truly on the athletics map. and found himself the surprise leader in triple jump at the 1956 Games in Mel- In the spring of 1949, future Olympic medal- bourne. Although defending champion list Emanuel MacDonald Bailey (GBR) trained in and world record holder Adhemar daSilva Iceland for a few months, during which time he (BRA) struck back two rounds later with a helped instruct the country’s young sprinters winning 16.35m jump, Einarsson ended and then tied 100m the world record at a up with the silver medal, which to this day meeting in Reykjavik4. The next year, Olympic is Iceland’s best-ever performance at decathlon champion Bob Mathias (USA) also world level. He was named Iceland’s helped promote the sport in the country by Sportsman of the Year five times, more running a 100m race against the best local ath- than anyone in the 52 years of the award, letes during a stopover en route from California and his 16.70m mark set in 1960 stands to competitions in Europe as the oldest national record at senior level. His son, Einar Vilhjalmsson, is the Later in 1951, Iceland defeated former national record holder in the javelin at rulers Denmark in a national men’s team 86.60m, placed 6th at the 1984 Olympic match in Reykjavik, despite having less than Games and was himself Sportsman of the one thirtieth the population to draw on. Year three times in the 1980s. National pride was further boosted with two golds and a silver from the European Cham- been. There were still some good perform- pionships in Brussels. It reached a high point ances, particularly in the jumping events, but in 1951 when the men’s team took top hon- without a system of financial support most ours in a three-way match against Denmark young male athletes were forced to retire and Norway at the Bislet stadium in Oslo, a before realising their full potential in order to victory, still considered the greatest in Ice- study or take up a professional career. landic athletics history and by some as the greatest of any Icelandic sport team. Under these circumstances, athletics went through an extended period of low profile. Of However, from an individual performance particular note was the fact that the national point of view, the peak of the golden age championships were no longer a “must see” came five years later when Vilhjamur Einars- event for the county’s sports fans. At the son brought home the country’s first Olympic same time football and other sports were medal, a silver, from the 1956 Games in Mel- gaining popularity. bourne (see box). The Second Surge 1959-1970 The seeds of the sport’s revival were sown From the late 1950s through the 1960s, the in the late 1960s: Orn Eidsson was elected as focus of Icelandic society turned to building president of the federation in 1968, a post he the country’s infrastructure and role of sport held until 1984, and a year earlier the highly diminished.