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The Sporting Life

The Icelandic Celebration was held in Winnipeg from 1890 to 1932, after which it was moved to Gimli. From its inception, sports were an important part of the occasion. W. Kristjanson in his "The Icelandic People in Manitoba" wrote: "Formerly, the sports events were a prominent feature of the day, and for many years the program included, besides track and field events, Icelandic wrestling, middle distance running, bicycle racing, archery, and baseball. Athletic clubs from Winnipeg, Selkirk, Lundar, Argyle and Gimli, and individuals from other places competed and a high standard was set in the period from 1905 to 1940 by such outstanding athlets as Kristjan Backman, Magnus Kelly, the brothers Jack and Ben Baldwin, Einar Johnson, Bjorgvin Stefansson, A.O. (Gusti) Magnusson, Sveinn Sigfusson and others. The coveted trophies were the Oddson Shield for Club competitions and Hanson Cup for individual championship."

The 1950 Islendingadagurinn program set out the rules for the Oddson Shield and Hanson Cup Competitions. The shield would be held for one year by the winning club. The Hanson Cup would be held for one year by the aggregate winner of individual events, where first place was worth three points, second was worth two points and third was worth one point. The closed events for the Oddson shield and the Hanson Cup included the 100-yard dash, the running broad jump, the 440-yard race, the high jump, the 220-yard race, the hop, step and jump, the shot put, the 880-yard race and the one-mile race. In addition there were four open events, including a 100-yard dash, and 880-yard race, a running broad jump and a pole-vault. Four or more contestants were required to compete in each event, and all competitors competed at their own risk.

The Oddson Shield was presented to the Icelandic Celebration Committee by Thorsteinn Oddson and Sons in 1913 for annual competition among track and field clubs representing the Icelandic community. It is a magnificent trophy and includes the names of the winning clubs from 1913 to 1941, as well as some of the later winners. The most consistent winner of the trophy was Grettir Amateur Athletic Association of Lundar who held the shield for ten consectuve years from 1914 to 1923, and won it fifteen times in all. The AGGHR (Arborg, Gimli, Geysir, Hnausa, and Riverton) won it three times in 1939, 1940, and 1941. Other winners included the Viking AAC and the Falcon AAC from Winnipeg, the Gimli Athletic Club, Sleipnir, and Einmannafelag. The competitions were revived in 1950 when the shield was won by the Manitoba Settlers and were held sporadically until 1969. The Winnipeg Flying M Club won it in 1959, 1960 and 1961. One of the memers of the Grettir club, Sveinn Sigfuson was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1982. He aslo won many medals at the British Empire Games in 1950 and 1954.

The Hanson Cup for individual performance was also given to the Committee in 1913. It replaced the Clemens, Arnason, Palmason trophy that had been won permanently the Einar Johnson of Oak Point, a member of the Grettir Amateur Athletic Association. The Hanson Cup is to be kept by the Committee and a miniature trophy given to the winner. In the 1970 Program the Icelandic Celebration Committee thanks the Canadian Track and Field Association for sanctioning the Western Canadian Ten Mile Championship Road Race and it also thanks the Manitoba Track and Field Association who also endorsed the race. The race has been run every year since 1970. One of it most frequent winners was the Olympian runner Chris McCubbins of Winnipeg, who was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame this year.

In addition to the Oddson Shield and the Hanson Cup, six additional trophies were offered in 1970. The included the Sveinn Sigfusson Trophy for Highest oint Standings in Men's Midget and Juvenile Events, the Einar B. Johnson Trophy for the Highest Point Standings in Men's OpenTrack Events, the Jan Maddin Trophy for the highest point standings in the Women's Open Events, the Dr. Alsi E. Thorlakson Wengek Trophy for Highest point standings Women's Midget and Juvenile Events, the Icelandic Canadian Club Trophy for the Winner of the 10-Mile Road Race and the Steward Trophy for the Winner of the Juvenile 10-Mile Road Race.The Oddson trophy was last awarded in 1969 and marks a transition from the traditional sports to a variety of new events. In the early seventies the Sports Committee organized raft races in teh harbour and awarded the Odin Handicap for the fastest craft, the Labatt Award for the best original design and Powder Plunger for the Ladies' event. Later, the raft race expanded to include the Whiterock Challenge, which sent rafts around marker buoys at the beach.

In later years, the distance races became more important that the track and field events, and the Hanson trophy now became the Team Award for the Islendingadagurinn 10-mile event. The Icelandic Canadian Club Trophy goes to the winner over all, the Steward Trophy to the First Juvenile Division and the Cook's Sporting Goods Trophy to first in the Master's Division.

New novelty races began to be included with the children's races. These varied from year to year but included wheelbarrow races, piggyback races and three-legged races, stilt walking races, the Married Men's race, the Married Women's race and Grandmother's Gallop. These races are shaped by the imagination of the Sports Committee. During the 1970's and 1980's connections with Iceland became closer than they had been, and Iceland sent teams of Glima wrestlers and Soccer players to display their sports.

Two new locally created sports began in the seventies and have continued to be an important part of the sports program right to the present. Cameron Arnason invented a sport called Fris-Nok that has become popular in many parts of the country. The sport involves teams of players throwing Frisbees in an attempt to knock bottles off posts defended by opposing players. The late Brad Arnason introduced a sport he called the Islendingadunk in which two contestants seated on a horizontal pole over the water at the harbour try to knock each other off the pole with waterproof pillows called thumpers. The event is known as the Viking Challenge, and is based on a similar Icelandic sport reported by Kent Bjornson. Over the years a bewildering array of sports and contests have come and gone from tug-of-war to York boat races, but sport is always an important part of the day.

In 1950 the Islendingadagurinn Committee dedicated itself to restoring the Oddson Shield and the competitions for it. The present committee is anxious to bring the shield out of retirement and once more make it a part of our celebrations. This year the Islendingadagurrin celebrates sport, and marks that with the introduction of a new event, the McMahon Mile, sponsored by Gerry Gordon Mazda, in honour of the legendary track and field coach Wayne McMahon. We look forward to renewed emphasis on sport in future celebrations.

- by David Arnason, 2008 Official Souvenir Program of Islendingadagurrin