Para-athletes gearing up for qualifying event

By PATRICIA KEAMO
PORT Moresby based para-athletes are hard at work preparing for the Oceania Athletics Championship in a month’s time in Fiji, which would be one of their final qualification event for the Paris Paralympic Games.
PNG Paralympic Committee’s sports performance director Paul Bannister said the para-athletes have been training since February with support from the PNG High Performance Sport at the Sir John Guise Stadium and Taurama Aquatic Indoor Center.
Bannister told The National that a few para-athletes would be attending a lead-up training camp in Auckland and Hamilton in New Zealand ahead of the Oceania meet in Suva.
“Their high performance and technical sessions are still going very well,” said Bannister.
“They have access to the HP center and Sir John Guise Stadium so they are training as much as they can.
“They’ve been using the gym at Taurama Aquatic Indoor Center for gym and fitness as well as recovery session in the pool.”
Bannister said the athletes trained during the week and on weekends, and whenever the the track and field were free.
“The Oceania Championship from June 4-7 is one of the last chances for the athletes to qualify to get to Paris,” he said.
“Not only do they need to qualify but conform to the quota system.
“If someone does go very close (to the qualifying bar) in Suva, there is a possibility of some other chances to go to competitions in the world, that would be Europe.
“But that would be (a case where an athlete gets) very close to the qualifying bar.”
Meanwhile, Bannister said the training opportunity in New Zealand would be good for the para-athletes to refine what they had worked on these past months.
“On May 13, certain athletes will go (for the training) that’s been made possible through funding from the Oceania Paralympic Committee and the Australian Depart of Foreign Affairs and Trade,” said Bannister.
“We appreciate their help in assisting para-athletes to go into training in NZ where four or five athletes will be coached by internationally ranked coaches, one being John Eden and Debbie Strange.
“Both are highly regarded so it’s a great chance for our athletes and coaches to learn from and be in a training environment for roughly 20 days to enhance the training that they have done here.”