Sacrifices worth it: siblings

Olympians-in-waiting hoping to return to Australia for training

By ROBINSON LEKA
PAPUA New Guinea Olympian-in-waiting Rose-Lee Numa says her pursuit of this year’s Tokyo Games has forced her to put on hold her final year of tertiary studies.
The 23-year-old arts student is supposed to be completing her fourth and final year at the Pacific Adventist University.
Rose-Lee said it was one of the sacrifices her and brother Teariki had made with the sailing pair so far being the only Papua New Guineans to qualify for the Games which will be held from July 23 to Aug 8.
“I’ve put my studies on hold and my brother has quit his job so that we can continue training on a fulltime basis until the Games,” she said.
“I was thrilled about earning an Olympic spot.
“I qualified a week after my brother.
“Finding quality training and competition is hard because sailing is not as popular as other sports.
“So it has been a struggle for us and going head-to-head at training is the best we can do.
“We’re supposed to return to Australia and resume training.
“But because of Covid-19, the borders have been closed.
“However, we’re hopeful of returning to Australia before the Olympics.”
Teariki said their sacrifices were worth it as they were following in the footsteps of their dad, Graham, who also competed in the Olympics as a sailor.
“We’re fortunate that our dad was the last Papua New Guinean who competed in the Olympics as a sailor,” he said.
“It’s something that we’ve always wanted to replicate.
“Every time we competed in an event, it was an opportunity to gain more experience and qualify for the Olympics.”