athletes

The PNG Olympic Committee board in its meeting of 08 November resolved to extend the payment deadline to tomorrow Friday 10 November 

The National Federations (sports) must pay the mandated K2,000 levy per athlete and official for the upcoming Pacific Games. 

PNGOC as of this morning contacted each of the sports yet to pay in full and urged them to meet their obligations to their athletes. This is the fourth and final deadline for payment, the first being May 2023. 

Athletics PNG is responsible for flying athletes into Port Moresby as well as payment of the levy fees of K2000 per person and the costs of their lead-up preparations.

NSI-based Adolf Kauba and Lae-based Scholastic Herman flew into Port Moresby and onto Brisbane on Monday last week along with NCD-based Eldan Toti.

The athletes are spending a little over three weeks at the Gold Coast before travelling to Honiara in time for the Athletic competition which commences on 27 November.

The teenagers and young men and women, representing three sporting codes in Lae, were supposed to travel to Madang today for the games.

The team management of volleyball, basketball and touch footy in Lae district of Morobe Province received a letter from the Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation’s Momase Regional Office, dated August 18^th, confirming their participation at the games.

The 2023 Momase Regional Youth Games will be hosted in Madang on the 25^th-30^th of September, involving all 26 districts in the region.

The NOCSI Board member and National Selection and Justification Chair, Morris Maitaki, emphasized the importance of this new eligibility rule during a recent Sol2023 Talk-back show held at SIBC.

Maitaki highlighted that being a member of Team Solomon is a crucial requirement for participation in the Pacific Games, and to achieve this status, athletes must be valid citizens holding a passport. Even though Solomon Islands is the host nation for the Games, they are not exempt from this stringent requirement.

Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee delivered its 7th Edition of the Papua New Guinea Sports Hall of Fame with the induction of three outstanding sport legends, on Thursday, 8th of December 2022. 

The PNG Sports Hall of Fame was initiated in 2011 to honour and preserve the legacy of the individuals who excelled in the past, recognizing sporting accomplishments, bringing pride and distinction to our country, and who have contributed to the development of sport in PNG.

The men’s 4*400m team of Alphonse Igish, Jonathan Dende, Ephraim Lerkin and Emmanuel Wanga posted an improved time of 3min 16.84secs. 

Leonie Beu and Isila Apkup were also in action in the 600 yards and 400m respectively and joined their teammates Passion Crews and Zimbabwean Vimbayi Maisvorewa for a good seasons opening 3min 52.88secs in the 4*400m relay. 

This was the second of five scheduled competitions for the team during the indoor season ahead of the Regional Championships on 19/20 February. 

Dr. Daoni Esorom says sporting codes affiliated under the PNG Sports Foundation must consider vaccination of sportsmen and women and even the administrators of the code to safeguard the competitions.

He reminded them that sports are high risk events where the COVID-19 virus can spread if preventive measures are not adopted at the early stages of the commencement of the competitions.

He said there are also important criteria for all sporting codes to meet in order for the competition to begin.

Leeroy Kamau 21, Brendan Baul 21, Benjamin Aliel 24, Cellian Taubuso 26, Morgan Tobeno 24, Jonah Theo 21 and Christopher Penni 25. The bond was through high school and they met on the tracks again. They’ve been training for four years on the track. They are coached by Nelson Stone, a former PNG and Pacific Games track champion. Leeroy & Benjamin will be taking part in the Nationals from the 4^th – 6^th December 2020 in Port Moresby.

- Athletes, Port Moresby. 

One of them is 35-year-old Tetsuya Sotomura. When I met him on a sweltering afternoon earlier this week he was still hard at it in a converted factory building in a north Tokyo suburb, flying high into the air, spinning and tumbling on a massive trampoline.

Back in 2008 Tetsuya placed 4th at the Beijing Olympics, just missing a bronze medal. Since then he's fought injury that put him out of London in 2012 and Rio in 2016. Tokyo was to be his last hurrah, a hometown Olympics to end his trampolining career on a high. But another year is just too much.

This has been confirmed by the Team Samoa Chef de Mission, Nynette Sass at a podcast training workshop for a group of journalists that is being conducted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“Our officials will be present at the games and will walk up to athletes that won their events, say if they win gold, the official will come up to them and tap their back to tell them to take the test. If the athletes refuse, they have to have a valid reason like they have another event to attend to. If not, officials will be on their backs till they take the test,” Sass said.