RUNGA ATHLETICS.
With the official entry of 17 Island teams for Mens' events and 8 teams for the Womens' events, this promised to be the largest Runga Athletics competition ever, and further credit to our policy of visiting the outer islands for certification courses at a Basic level.
Unfortunately, the actual competition did not work out that way, with only 9 active teams for men and only six for women. Thus we finished earlier yesterday than the time we had allowed. It also meant that the athletes had a shorter rest between events, even though the officials were not pushing the meeting along too hard.
GOOD FORM by the DELHI-BOUND TRIO.
By holding these Athletics events in the first week of Te Runga, the three male athletes travelling to Delhi with the Kiribati team were able to participate and test their form. All three showed that they were at or near their best in their main events. So Raobu in the Shot and Discus (and Javelin), George in the sprints (100m. and 200m. double), and Boitu in the horizontal jumps (LJ and TJ double with PBs) all proved to be on good form before the team leaves on Monday (Sept. 27).
THANKS TO THE OFFICIALS.
As ever, the volunteers turned up to help. Thus, surprisingly for the Pacific, we were able to start fairly promptly on both days (Friday and Saturday). Our commitment of using the Volleyball court only until the Volleyball competition wanted to start was fulfilled by starting the women's HJ soon after 0700 on Saturday morning. (We had started the Mens' 5k. Road Race at 0700 on Friday, to keep clear of traffic and other users of the stadium field.)
DISAPPOINTING NUMBERS.
With three prizes per event at stake, we always had at least three competitors, but we had expected more, e.g. in the mens' sprints. One problem is that many islands bring teams for the team sports (Football, Basketball, Volleyball, and local game Te Oreano) and these take up a lot of the available funding for their transportation and daily living on Tarawa. Thus Athletics (and other individual sports) takes a back seat.
There were teams from the "Far East", i.e. from Line Islands Washington, Fanning, and Christmas, and these have to travel by ship for several days to get here. So places are at a premium on these teams. But they bring quality with them, showing that "remote" does not mean "inferior" !
RESULTS.
Tables of the "First Threes" are attached.
Last Modified on 26/09/2010 12:51