Weightlifting vet gets hand

 By PHOEBE GWANGILO 
A LONG time weightlifter, who represented Papua New Guinea in regional and world events, is thankful to his employer for helping him travel to the Rio Olympics.
Frank Robby will not be in Rio as an athlete but an official Olympic weight lifting official.
The 60-year-old, who is the assets manager of Finance Corporation Limited (Fincorp) was presented a return ticket to Brisbane, Australia by the company’s chief operating officer Craig Miller at their office in Port Moresby last Friday.
“I want to thank our managing director Tony Withier and Craig Miller as well as  my immediate boss John Ovia (human resource and administration group manager),” Robby, pictured, said.
“The company bought myairline ticket for the Port Moresby-Brisbane and I will be leaving on August 2.
“The organising committee in Rio are only covering the cost of getting to the Olympics for officials from big regional centres like Brisbane so I had to pay my own way from here to Australia and back,” he said.
“So I wrote to several business houses and there was no response so I thought how about I knock on my own door so I wrote to my big boss and he said, ‘Frank, you are the longest serving and the first ever Papua New Guinean and the first ever Pacific Islander to be appointed to the Weightlifting world body. Yes, I will support you.’”
Robby told The National that he would become the first Papua New Guinean to officiate at an Olympics in any sport.
“I have done five Commonwealth Games. I was aiming for the Olympics and this is my first.”
Robby said Fincorp had been flexible with his involvement in sports since 1998 when he first joined.
He said his success in sports would not had been possible if it was not for his wife and his employer.
Miller said Fincorp was honoured to sponsor Robby as he would be representing PNG, Pacific Islands and the company.