THE NEARLY-PEOPLE HAVE THEIR DAY !
Some athletes, who have so far been in the shadows of established internationals, took their opportunity at this year's Runga to beat the more fancied stars head-to-head. Thus in the MHJ David Birati beat Buraieta, and in the MShot Raobu beat Tiim. In the M200m. Tonika had an excellent race with Rabangaki. In the MJavelin, Junior beat Rabangaki. However, in the womens' events, Kaitinano was again the best all-round athlete. Terina proved again that she will be in the reckoning for future international competitions. Boitu, having last been seen at training dusting off the grit after a fall at the Hurdles, beat both Buraieta and David in the MLJ and MTJ. He too is a prospect for the future.
In the Team competitions, 12 island teams took part in the Mens' events, and 7 teams in the Womens' events. While not being an improvement in team participation since 2006, more athletes took part in more events than before. Overall it was pleasing to see the small island of Makin taking all the honours. In the Mens' events, the locals of TUC were the runners-up, and in the Womens' events Butaritari placed second.
The prizes for Best Male Athlete and Best Female Athlete went to Rabangaki (Makin) and Kaitinano (Butaritari) - a result which has happened before !
RANKINGS.
A guide as to the quality of some of the performances is that 8 Womens' and 20 Mens' (mostly in Field events) results were added to the KAA Rankings Lists (of approx. the Top Fifty All-Time in every event). The MJavelin list was the main beneficiary of this, with 8 new entries.
RECORDS.
Maybe we are reaching some kind of "plateau" ! This year we have had very few new National Records, in fact zero for the women and only two for the men. Sickness, pregnancy, employment and movement of senior athletes (most likely to break records) are all contributing factors. We can only keep working and raising all our standards, praying for and encouraging more school-leavers to stay in the sport, and the next hill will eventually be climbed !
Last Modified on 17/11/2008 14:06