Hinriksdottir Hoping to Create History

WRITTEN FOR THE IAAF WEBSITE

Iceland have never won a medal in the 14-year history of these championships but Anita Hinriksdottir is hoping to change that statistic in the 800m this Sunday (14) in Donetsk, Ukraine.

The 17-year-old qualified fastest from today’s (11) first round with a dominant front-running 2:04.79 display and is in confident mood ahead of tomorrow’s (12) semi-final.

Boasting the second fastest time of the year courtesy of her 2:00.49 lifetime best and Icelandic national record set in Germany last month, Hinriksdottir will not have the World youth leader to contend with as America’s Mary Cain is absent – the 1:59.51 runner preferring to concentrate on the IAAF World Championships in Moscow next month.

Nevertheless, the 2012 World Junior Championship fourth place finisher is not resting on her laurels:

“I don’t want to finish outside of the medals again,” she explained. “The Ethiopians (Kobeb Tesfaye and Dureti Edao) are strong and there’s the Australian girl (Georgia Wassall), all of us want to get to the final.”

A semi-finalist at the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg in February and recent 1500m winner of the European Team Championships in Gateshead, Hinriksdottir continued:

“I want to set a personal best. It’s a very strong competition but hopefully I can win, I think it will take a personal record (to win).

“It would be very nice to get Iceland’s first medal and I think I can go sub-two minutes but maybe not this year.

“I’m very much enjoying my time here - it’s very fun meeting foreign athletes.”

Coached by Gunnar Paul Joakimsson, Hinriksdottir is also following in family tradition as her aunt, Martha Ernstodttir finished 45th in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games marathon.

“She inspired me to get into athletics and I’m proud of her,” Hinriksdottir revealed. And she too must be proud of her niece.