PNG’s Paralympians in London & ready to compete

Wikinews

WITH THE 2012 SUMMER PARALYMPICS starting this week, Papua New Guinea's Paralympic delegation has arrived in London to support the two athletes who qualified for the Games, athletics competitor Francis Kompaon [pictured] and powerlifter Timothy Harabe.

The Games are Kompaon's second, having competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics where he earned his country's first Paralympic medal when he finished second in the 100 metre event.

Harabe, only the tenth person ever to represent PNG at the Games, is making his Paralympic Games debut.

The British High Commissioner to PNG, Jackie Barson MBE, wished both athletes well.

"It is a fantastic achievement for PNG to be represented by two world class Paralympic athletes,” he said.

PNG Paralympic Committee President Bernard Chan congratulated his country's athletes, saying, "They will be great ambassadors for PNG and I hope both Francis and Timothy will inspire other athletes to train hard."

The 2012 Games will be the fourth time PNG has participated, with three other appearances in 1984, 2000 and 2008.

Other members of the Papua New Guinea 2012 Paralympic delegation include PNG Paralympic Committee President Bernard Chan; Chef de Mission Dr Kefu Ma; team manager Rosemary Mawe; Davina Chan, the president's wife; coach William McKenny; and official Jeffrey Robby.

Comments

[Peter Kranz]

Radio New Zealand report:

Papua New Guinea’s Francis Kompaon has missed out on a medal in the final of the men’s T46 100m at the Paralympics.

The 26 year-old finished seventh in the final in a time of 12.28 seconds - more than a second slower than the personal best time he ran in the heats.

Making matters worse, Kompaon injured his hamstring near the finish line.

PNG Team Manager Rosemary Mawe says everyone is gutted but that’s the harsh reality of sport.

“He’s also devastated. The bronze medal is obviously 11.23 and in the heats he got 11.21 and he was sure he had put a lot of effort in there and thought he would have improved on his personal best he had in the events and I don’t know how it all happened and yeah.”

[Peter Kranz]

We wish all the best for these amazing athletes. If you know what difficulties disabled people have to go through in PNG, then the achievement of these two in getting to London is amazing in itself.

Winning medals would be the icing on the cake, but just qualifying and being there is ample tribute to their skills and perseverance.

Go you good PNG guys!