Focus on international events

By PATRICIA KEAMO
ATHLETICS this year were condensed as the sport’s national governing body focused on preparing athletes for major international competitions from next year.
The first main athletics event was the PNG Air Highlands-Mamose Championships at Goroka’s National Sports Institute (NSI) with teams from five centres competing on Sept 11-13.
Other events leading up to the PNG Air National Athletics Championship included the New Guinea Islands championships in East New Britain in October followed by last month’s West New Britain championships.
The Highlands-Mamose championships saw athletes from Lae, Bulolo, Goroka, Chimbu and Jiwaka compete.
The highlights of the competition was the men’s 200m final and an exciting race in the 3,000m between Chimbu pair Abel Siune and Wilford Baia.
Morobe lass and prospective athlete Edna Boafob made a strong case by dominating the women’s 200m and 400m sprints ahead of NSI’s Leanne Tibu.
Young talented athletes from the New Guinea Islands showed their strengths in the track and field events during the regional championships at St Mary’s Vuvu Secondary School in East New Britain.
A notable performer was East New Britain’s Dominica Kakap who made a strong finish behind Pacific Games representative Monica Kalua in the women’s 1,500m and 3,000m.
The West New Britain championships at Sasi Muthuvel Stadium were successful and impressive as development athletes made their mark.
This included the likes of Leroy Kamau who is coached by former national sprinter and Pacific Games gold medalist Nelson Stone.
Kamau’s 200m time was the highlight of the championships as he clocked in 21.15 seconds, edging the time set by Stone (21.67s) in the 2015 South Pacific Games.
At the time, it was the fastest 200m recorded by a national athlete on home soil.
Despite Kamau’s record in the 200m, he was upstaged in the men’s 100m final by East Sepik’s development athlete Emmanuel Anis who clocked 10.695s ahead of Kamau’s 10.699s.
Kamau and Annis went head to head in the 100m final during the PNG Air National Athletics Championship early this month at Sir John Guise Stadium.
Kamau got his revenge as he beat Anis in the 100m finals and finished first with a time of 10.57s.
The National Athletics Championship brought over 300 athletes from 11 centres across the country who competed in the track and field events for the three-day championship.
National representatives, including Pacific Games champion Toea Wisil who won the open women’s 100m final (11.70s), also competed in the championships.
The nationals were challenging, given the number of upcoming athletes.
But Wisil expressed her concern, saying they still had a long way to go to continue the legacy of former and current national athletes.
According to Athletics PNG, some of the athletes who competed in the regional and the national championships would be selected to train for international competitions from next year.
These include the 2021 Oceania Championships (Vanuatu), 2022 World Cross Country Athletics Championship (Australia), 2022 Pacific Mini Games (Northern Mariana Islands) and 2023 South Pacific Games (Solomon Islands).