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For Sharon Firisua of the Solomon Islands, the Olympics is not a marathon, but a sprint.
The Solomon Islands gave the 30-year-old marathoner the sole berth in the women’s 100 meters, something that only happens at the Olympics. Friday’s Olympic preliminaries will be Filisua’s first — and possibly last — 100-meter race.
Filisua finished 72nd in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics and hopes the Paris Marathon will be her third Olympic marathon.
When she failed to qualify, her country’s Olympic officials decided to award her her original wild card spot, which is usually reserved for small countries so that their athletes have a chance to compete even if they don’t meet the qualifying standards.
When the country’s officials were given the opportunity, they were told the 100 meters was the only race with open spots and that they should pick a runner to join a field that included Shakari Richardson, Shirley-Ann Fraser-Pryce and dozens of the world’s top sprinters.
It all seemed like an interesting little story — it was three hours and 42,000 meters less than Filisua’s typical race time — but not everyone was happy.
Top of the list was the country’s best sprinter, Yovita Aruña, but she did not qualify for the event and therefore did not qualify for the country.
“We are (real) sprinters. … I don’t know what went wrong. This is unbelievable,” She told Australia’s ABC News.
Aruña said she was considering quitting the sport.
“I will not be competing again because of what they did,” she said.
Solomon Islands Athletics Federation president Michael Kuali told Australia’s ABC News the federation had nominated sprinters for the open event but the final decision was made by the national Olympic committee, calling the selection “shocking”.
Filisua is one of only two athletes from the Solomon Islands competing in the Olympics, along with swimmer Isabella Miller.
Source: ESPN
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