Former Papua New Guinean champion athlete, Nelson Stone, was in Lihir, New Ireland Province recently to help students at Newcrest’s Lihir International School (LIS) prepare for their race day before the school closed for holidays.
The school race day was held in place of the traditional school carnival, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school’s alternate program incorporated social distancing, allowing students to compete in races safely in groups of less than 20 at a time, rather than compete in their sports groups.
LIS Principal, Gregory Neville, said the school was fortunate to have Nelson Stone, retired PNG 2012 Summer Olympian run training drills in preparation for the school’s race day.
Stone ran training sessions over three days. He took students for warm-up sessions, drills and 20-metre sprint lessons.
A one-time 400 metre national record holder and Pacific Games champion now retired athlete, Stone is coaching and mentoring some of Papua New Guinea’s upcoming young talented group of athletes, under his NEST Athletics Club. This group includes Pacific gold medallist, Daniel Baul Totzik, a Lihirian and former students of LIS.
“Apart from encouraging healthy lifestyle and physical fitness, Stone’s visit to Lihir will hopefully inspire young minds in Lihir to excel in sports as well as academically,” said Neville.