Team PNG’s athletics squad primed

Sports

BOASTING the largest group in Team Papua New Guinea, the athletics contingent of 44 are primed for today’s field and track events from 4pm at Oleai Stadium in Saipan, Northern Marianas.
Team manager Kylie Martins said PNG would compete in all the events with the athletics team in good spirits to compete after months of preparation in PNG, Australia and the United States.
“We have prepared well leading up to these Games and the team are in good spirits,” she said.
“That winds up our day one with competitions estimated to end at 3pm.
“For all sprints, we have entered all three athletes.
“For the field events, we have – at the most – two athletes.
“All the events will be live-streamed on the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games website with real-time results.
“Saipan and PNG in the same time zone, so there is no time difference.”
There will be two heats in the women’s 100m with the top-three in each heat going to the final, including the two fastest of all the other runners in these two heats.
For the men’s 100m, there are 28 athletes. This means four heats of seven runners and there are 16 places available in the semifinal.
The top-three runners from each of the four heats will qualify for the semifinals along with the four fastest of all the other runners (making it a total of 16 semifinalists).
The women’s 100m heats and finals are scheduled for today as well the men’s 100m heats while the semifinals and final will be held tomorrow.