It was a golden day for PNG on the tracks as sprint queen Toea Wisil, veteran hurlder, Mowen Boino and sprinter Nazlee Marai took out gold at the Korman Stadium.
Kasper Simbai also had a field day taking out gold in the 5 000 meter finals.
If there was one thing PNG proved today on the tracks, is that no athlete is ever too big for such an event as the VAN2017 Pacific Mini Games.
Korma stadium in Port Vila cheered PNG track athletes all the way to the finish line.
In the men’s 400m hurdles, PNG’s humble veteran, Mowen Boino showed his humility can take him a long way, winning gold.
This race was extra special as it was Boino’s final race in front of a crowd of people whom he has come to know as family…Mowen is married and lives in Vanuatu.
Toea Wisil was clearly a crowd favourite but she totally owned the 100 meter tracks today. Her seniority in the event showed but more so she had her sights set for the GC 2018 Games.
In the men’s 100m finals, Fiji blazed the tracks but were disqualified citing a false start by the officials.
The Fijians disputed the decision and said it wasn’t the first time this has happened to them.
However, video footage of the actual 100m race from IBC confirmed the false start, automatically giving the gold away to PNG’s Nazlee Marai.
Meantime, the track and field events wind down today with boxing set to start tomorrow at the VAN2017 Pacific Mini Games.