53-year-old record surpassed

PAPUA New Guinea’s elite distance runner Aquila Turalom has broken Athletics PNG’s oldest national record in the 3,000m steeplechase set 53 years, following his participation at the 2024 Queensland Athletics Championship.
Turalom tumbled the record on Thursday evening in Brisbane by three seconds, running the 3,000m steeplechase in 9 minutes 22.06 seconds.
The 53-year old record of 9min 25.8 was set by PNG’s first athletics Olympian from Buin in South Bougainville, the late great John Kokinai in Port Moresby on Aug 25, 1971.
Athletics PNG president Tony Green who witnessed this event in Brisbane said, “this record was a great achievement but not a total surprise because Aquila had shown the signs that this was coming.
“His big breakthrough came at the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara when he ran 9min 26 seconds in the steeplechase and broke the 30-year-old national record in the 1,500m, becoming the first Papua New Guinean to run the metric mile in under four minutes.”
Green said after the Pacific Games, Turalom headed straight to Gold Coast for more training to build on his achievements. “He stayed at the Oceania Athletics House at Varsity Lakes in a continuation of his programme leading up to the World Cross Country Championships last year.”
Green thanked West New Britain governor Sasindran Muthuvel for his support in funding Turalom’s travel to Australia.
In competitions leading up to these state championships Turalom has clocked times of 9m 34 and 9min 40 secs.
Meanwhile, coach Brett Green who has been training Turalom in Gold Coast said increasing his weekly mileage has made the difference as Aquila now had the strength to maintain the pace to the end of the race.
Turalom dedicated the record to his first coach the late Wilson Malana who brought him into the sport and was a huge influence.
Late Malana passed away recently and was laid to rest in his home village of Karavia Liu East New Britain last weekend.