Athletics PNG

They will be up against two Australian national teams, two teams from Victoria and a junior team also from Victoria. 

The athletes are Benjamin Aliel, Edna Boafob, William Peka and Harihi Naime and they will be accompanied by Head Coach Brett Green.

They are going at the invite of Athletics Australia to boost its team’s chances of improving their world ranking and thereby gain qualification for the World Relays in the Bahamas in May. This is an important stepping stone to  Olympic qualification.

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.

Approximately 70 athletes from various clubs, including Para athletes, will come under the NCD banner. The largest of the visiting teams will be from West New Britain, Oro, Lae and the National Sports Institute (NSI) development squad from Goroka.

Strong competition is expected in all of the men’s running events with all the top sprinters vying for selection for the Pacific Games taking part.

Leroy Kamau , Pais Wisil and Emmanuel Anis will start favorites in a strong field of 100m sprinters.

Thirteen PNG athletes have been selected for the 17 strong Melanesian team that will compete against Micronesia, Polynesia, Australia and host, Northern Marianas.

The Oceania Cup has been brought back into the calendar in Oceania to align with the Oceania and World Athletics strategic plan to create more international competition opportunities for the athletes in the region.

Previous editions of the Oceania Cup have been held in Vanuatu , Samoa and Australia. Saipan was chosen this year as it has the best facility in the Pacific Islands.

These trials were mainly concentrated in the track events for both abled and para athletes.

The preseason trials are important events for the coaches to assess and identify talents before they are classified.

Port Moresby Athletics Technical Official John Gitiri said this year their main focus is on identifying younger boys and girls, and young women to join athletics.

That is why they continue to encourage young boys and girls from U16, and U18 to U20 to come out to Sir John Guise stadium, get registered and be put through odd races before they can be classified.

According to Team PNG, it's an achievement in itself and great progress in the lead up to the 2023 Solomon Islands Pacific Games this year.

Leeroy is currently studying and training in the US as he prepares to represent Team PNG in Honiara this November.

He will join Emmanuel Wanga, Emmanuel Anis, Jonathan Dende, Alphonse Igish, Shadrick Tansi and Ephraim Lerkin at Cloud. 

Athletics PNG Vice President, Josepha Wailoni was at the airport to see Kamau off and said the boys were looking forward to Leroy’s return. 

Kamau, who spent a period of time training in Kansas prior to the Pacific Mini Games had hoped to return in August last year however he had to wait until now in order to comply with US Immigration procedures.

Obviously the key event for this year is the Pacific Games in Honiara and clearly the objective for PNG Athletics is  to maintain its position as the #1 track and field nation in the Pacific.

“We are aiming to build on our resounding success at the 2022 Mini Games by keeping the momentum going with our programmes and all stakeholders must recognize that we will face stronger competition in Honiara, so we need to be prepared for that”, said President Tony Green.

With the Pacific Games in Honiara in November next year, the 2023 PNG Games and National championships will be more important in selecting the team than the 2022 Championships.

President Tony Green said the event was made possible through the support of PNG Air and through funding support of the World Athletics, PNG Olympic Committee, Prima Small goods, Hohola Apartments, National Sports Institute, PNG Sports Foundation and the HP Unit.