Port Moresby based sprinter Manoka John heads to Canberra today (Tuesday) en route to Finland for the IAAF World Under 20 Championships that will be held in the City of Tampere from July 10 to 15. John clinched the one place available to PNG with a solid series of three 100m races in Goroka at the recent PNG Air Highlands Momase Athletic Championships, clocking times of 11.22, 11.20 and 11.22 secs. John first came to the attention of Athletics PNG last year with occasional glimpses of his speed shown in local competitions in Port Moresby. “However he didn’t produce his best at the National Championships and PNG Games and was not really in contention for selection until very recently” said APNG President Tony Green.”We staged a camp at NSI in January 2017 in an attempt to identify possible candidates for this event but a number of those athletes dropped out of contention for varying reasons. School commitments, lack of recent competition results and information concerning training commitment also made it difficult to select an athlete, but I have no doubt that we have a quality athlete with a bright future in Manoka, Green added. John will attend to visa requirements in Canberra then compete at a local meet at the AIS on Saturday before flying to Helsinki.
Last Modified on 03/07/2018 17:36