Jumps champ Kaputin in top shape to reach Olympic dreams

NATIONAL jumps champion Rellie Kaputin has been training harder than ever during the last four months while the majority of athletes have scaled down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
When the 27-year-old resumed training with coach Phillip Newton in Kingscliff, New South Wales, late in February, her chances of making it to the Olympics in Tokyo looked bleak.
Sidelined with injury, East New Briton had endured a lonely and challenging six months in Port Moresby as she worked to rehabilitate her injury under the guidance of Team Papua New Guinea physiotherapist Matthew Natusch and Hendriella Vilosi from the PNG Sports Foundation’s high performance unit.
“Few athletes would have had the mental fortitude to do the daily exercises and make the three times a week trip to the Taurama Aquatic Centre which was often a challenge in itself,” Athletics PNG president Tony Green said in a statement yesterday.
“But Kaputin was determined to pursue her Olympic dream and has seized with both hands the second chance that she has been given through the deferral of the Games to next year.”
The outlook is now very different for the national record holder who is already back to full fitness and eagerly looking forward to the opportunity to compete again.
“Kaputin’s six-days-a-week training regime which includes three sessions on some days is beginning to show results,” he said.
“Newton reported last week that in testing conducted as part of Rellie’s training programme, she is already ahead of where she was in June 2019, just prior to her sensational performances at the Oceania Championships in Townsville.
“Kaputin is focused on realising her potential and qualifying for the Games next year.”