Pacific athletes

Fiji hosts Oceania Athletics Championships

Oceania Athletics executive director Yvonne Mullins indicated this to the healthy growth of athletics in the Oceanic region.

"Six hundred and seventeen athletes are here and this is our largest Oceania championships," Mullins said.

"The sport is alive and well in the Oceania region and the best are here.

"So if the best are here that means we got a far broader participation base out there. We are growing."

On the same note, Oceania Athletics president Geoff Gardner said they like to see their sport (athletics) as a sport that fed other sports.

Pacific athletes underway at Rio Paralympics

RNZ reports Papua New Guinea's Joyleen Jeffrey ran a season best time in the women's 100m T12 event at the Olympic Stadium.

The 26 year old finished third in her heat in 15.33 seconds but failed to qualify for the semi finals.

Jeffrey, who is also entered in the 200m event, was the slowest of the 11 athletes to complete the race, while one competitor from Ukraine was disqualified and a Frenchwoman failed to start.

Fiji's Merewalesi Roden was beaten in straight sets, 11-2 11-3 11-5, by Young-A Jung from South Korea in the Class 5 women's table tennis singles.