Papua New Guinea are on course to grab all the medals on offer in the men’s 400m track and field event.
Our 400m runners showed their class in winning the heats that were run this morning, recording the three fastest times out of the 17 runners who took to the blocks at the BSP Stadium.
The men’s final will run under the lights at 8:20pm tomorrow. Theo Piniau ran the fastest time, stopping the clock at 48.71 seconds in the first heat setting the pace for his countrymen.
In the second heat, Kaminiel Matlaun ran a time of 49.71 seconds and Nelson Stone clocked 48.79 seconds in the final heat.
The current Pacific Games champion and PNG 400m record holder has to run his season best time to defend his gold, as the host nation’s up and coming 400m runners will be hanging on his shoulders.
The top eight qualifying time for the finals are, Piniau (48.71s), Stone (48.79s), Matlaun (49.71s), Siologo Viliamu Sepa (Samoa, 50.49s), Paul Wilson Nalau (Vanuatu, 50.95s), Anasa Kaito (Fiji, 51.08s), Tevita Tameilau (Tonga, 51.24s) and Alwin Muha (Solomon Islands, 51.25s).
