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Athletes compete in track and field events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. (File photo)
photo: Photo sports
Athletes from the Pacific Islands will compete on the Olympic track at the Stade de France in Paris this weekend.
Papua New Guinea’s Leonie Beu will compete in the 100m dash preliminaries on Friday night.
Her coach, Brett Green, said the athlete is ready.
He said: “Leonie is ready in every way an Olympian should be.”
“She had a great performance last week and we expect her to make a quick start in the prelims and advance to the first round.”
Papua New Guinea’s Leonie Beu will compete in the 100m dash.
photo: Papua New Guinea
Chloe David of Vanuatu will make her Olympic debut and will also compete in the women’s 100m preliminaries.
Also competing in the women’s 100m preliminaries are Filomenaleonisa Iakopo of American Samoa, Regine Tugade-Watson of Guam, Sydney Francisco of Palau, Sharon Firisua of the Solomon Islands and Temalini Manatoa of Tuvalu.
The top three finishers in each round qualify for the first round, as do the next fastest five finishers.
The men’s 100m heats will be held on Saturday evening, with eight Pacific Island athletes competing.
Fijian sprinter Waisake Tewa arrived at the Stade de France on Thursday to test the track with the athletes he will be competing against.
Also selected are Joseph Green of Guam, Kenazi Kanivat of Kiribati, William Reid of the Marshall Islands, Wenzar Kakiwea of Nauru, Maleselo Fukofuka of Tonga, Kalalo Mabuka and Scott Fiti of Tuvalu.
Fiji is the only Pacific Island team to win a medal at the Paris Olympics so far – silver in rugby sevens.
The Fiji Sevens rugby team were bronze medallists at the Tokyo Olympics but failed to win a single match at this tournament.
Josh Tasere of Papua New Guinea in Paris.
photo: ONOC Communications/Kirk Corrie
Swimmer sets personal best
Papua New Guinea’s team says the country has made the shortlist for the Paris Olympics after swimmer Josh Tarell won the 100m freestyle heats on Wednesday.
Tarell touched the wall in a personal best time of 53.58 seconds.
Chef de Mission Ryan Pini, a former champion swimmer, said he was proud of Talele’s performance.
Although Tarell did not improve and finished 72nd, Pini said the swimmer had reached a milestone in winning the meet.
“As Chef de Mission for Papua New Guinea and a former Olympic swimmer, I am incredibly proud of Josh’s performance in the 100m freestyle,” Pini said in a statement from the PNG team.
“Josh performed exactly as planned and showed maturity and growth in his swimming career.
“It’s really impressive how well he can stay focused and perform under the pressure of the world’s biggest stage.
“This level of dedication and composure is testament to his hard work and commitment and sets an example for aspiring athletes in Papua New Guinea.”
Tarell said he was thrilled and thanked everyone who supported him.
“I’ve been swimming since I was 12 years old,” he said.
“After 13 years of swimming, I made it to the Olympics and I’m very happy with my results.”
In the men’s 50m freestyle preliminaries, several Pacific swimmers broke their personal bests.
Palau’s Jion Hosei has a personal best of 25.67 seconds.
Philip Kinono of the Marshall Islands in the pool after a competition.
photo: ONOC Communications/Kirk Corrie
Philip Kinono of the Marshall Islands won the preliminary round with a personal best of 27.43 seconds.
Fiji’s David Young won the heat in 22.71 seconds, setting a new record and personal best for Fijian swimming.
His previous record was 22.87 seconds set at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Yang ranked 40th overall, Jinono ranked 64th, and Fazheng ranked 56th.
Fijian swimmer David Young has set a new Fijian swimming record in the men’s 50m freestyle.
photo: ONOC Communications/Kirk Corrie
Meanwhile, Jonathan Silas became Vanuatu’s first Olympic swimmer.
Silas swam a time of 59.38 seconds, breaking his best time and the previous national record of 1.01.06 seconds.
Vanuatu swimmer Loane Russet will make her Olympic debut on Saturday in the women’s 50m freestyle.
Eight other Pacific Island athletes competed in the 50m freestyle heats: Noelani Day of Tonga, Isabella Miller of the Solomon Islands, Kaiya Brown of Samoa, Georgia-Leigh Vele of Papua New Guinea, Kayla Hepler of the Marshall Islands, Yuri Hosei of Palau, Anahira McCutcheon of Fiji and Kestra Kihleng of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Judo Failure
Vanuatu judoka Hugo Cumbo lost to Dutchman Frank De Wit in the men’s 81kg round of 32 on Thursday.
Despite the defeat, the Vanuatu Sports Association and the National Olympic Committee congratulated Kambo for his second appearance at the Olympics.
Fiji’s Gerard Takayawa competes in judo on Friday night.
Fiji’s Sophia Morgan and Samoa’s Vaimo’oi’a Ripley represented the Pacific in women’s sailing.
photo: ONOC/Enoch Bainimarama
The voyage continues
Pacific Island sailors at the Paris Olympics will continue sailing competitions on Saturday.
Despite the weather affecting the schedule, the Fijian and Samoan crews still competed on the first day.
After two races, Samoa’s Eroni Leilua was 41st and Fiji’s Viliame Ratului was 43rd out of 43 boats.
In the women’s competition, Fiji’s Sophia Morgan was 33rd in the first race, while Samoa’s Waimoia Ripley was 42nd.
The boats compete in 10 races before the top scorers can compete in the medal races.
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