Black mountain. Translation: Montenegro. Derived from the famous Lovćen hump, which is said to have a black appearance. The mountains around Bar’s athletics track are mainly green and grey. But there are mountains. Everywhere. In this landscape suitable for painters, the athletes at the Games of the Small States of Europe compete for the medals. Among them the Icelandic Anita Hinriksdottir.
She took part in the event twice before, in 2013 and 2015. At that time she was still completely Icelandic, but she has now embraced the Netherlands as her second homeland. The 23-year-old 800 and 1500 meter runner lives and studies in the Netherlands and trains under Honoré Hoedt, former trainer of Sifan Hassan and Bram Som, among others.
“After I turned 20, I wanted to try to get the most out of my sport. In Iceland the competition and the people to train with is not big, there are simply not many athletes. In the Netherlands I have a good group and a very good trainer.” That trainer has to help her to be present at larger tournaments than the small state games. Hinriksdottir has already been there. At European Championships she competes well, at the 2016 Olympic Games she did not reach the semi-finals in the 800 meters and at the 2017 World Cup she did not pass the series at the same distance.
“I want to run in finals,” she says. “The limits have been tightened, so the first goal is to reach the big tournaments, but after that I want to try to run into the finals.” In Montenegro she runs the 1500 meters and is a favorite to win. But Vera Marie Hoffman from Luxembourg beats her with 4.21.51. Hinriksdottir finishes in 4:22:34 (for comparison: her PR is 4:06:43, the Dutch world champion Sifan Hassan ran 3:56:14 at the FBK Games two years ago).
It doesn’t seem to really bother her so far. “This is a great tournament to run against other girls and to train. It’s nice to be out with the Icelandic team, it’s like a little family. And such a tournament feels a bit like the small Olympic Games. For many athletes from countries like mine, this tournament is also quite important to participate.”
And so Iceland and the Netherlands compete for the heart of Hinriksdottir. “I stay in touch with Iceland, that’s important to me. Family, friends, these kind of tournaments. But indeed, soon I’m going back to the Netherlands: I have the best of both worlds!”