National long jumper off to US

PAPUA New Guinea long jumper Roland Hure is set to leave for the United States on Saturday under a two-year Oceania Australia Foundation scholarship.
Hure, from Barakau, Central, will attend Southwestern Community College in Iowa.
Hure, a gold medalist at the PNG Games and the 2017 Pacific Mini Games, will join fellow national athlete Benjamin Aliel, who will start his second year in the same programme.
The Oceania Australia Foundation has granted scholarships to many Pacific Island athletes through this programme which is supported by the Oceania Olympic Committee.
Previous Athletics PNG beneficiaries were Wala Gime, Cecilia Kumalalamene, Sharon Kwarula, Theo Piniau and John Rivan.
While a student at Gordon Secondary School, Hure was coached by John Gitiri and encouraged to participate in tournaments.
He jumped an outstanding 7.21m to win gold at the PNG Games in Kimbe and continued this great form at the Pacific Mini Games less than three weeks later.
It was these performances that won him the scholarship ahead of other athletes from PNG and around the Pacific in different sports who were nominated in 2018 for this year’s intake.
The scholarship includes tuition fees, full-board accommodation, meals and airfares.
Hure told The National yesterday that he had been aiming for the scholarship since he was 13 years old. “I have been working so hard for this when I first heard about the programme while doing Grade 7 in 2013,” Hure said.
“I thought instead of going to a local tertiary institution, I just had to work hard in school and training to earn a scholarship to study abroad and use better facilities.”
Hure said the road to achieving his goal of winning a scholarship had been riddled with challenges.
“My family has gone through tough times money-wise,” he said.
“Our living standard is not okay but despite that, I was able to push on achieve my goal.”
Meanwhile, Athletics PNG president Tony Green has commended the foundation for its continuing support, and the PNG Olympic Committee for nominating 21-year-old Hure.
“The opportunity is there for Benjamin and Roland to secure university scholarships to continue their stay in the US and earn a degree upon completion of their two years at Southwestern Community College,” he said.