Introduction.
Male and female athletes from most of the 22 Oceania countries assembled in Cairns for the latest Oceania AA Area Championships. These were held on May 8th. - 10th. 2015.
The KAA team, managed by Ms. Kairao Tune (KAA Treasurer), arrived on the afternoon of Wed. May 6th.but the only practical training time was for less than two hours on Thursday morning. High Jumper David Birati is being sponsored to spend two months training at the Oceania High Performance Training Centre (HCPT) on Gold Coast. (This is in preparation for competing at the Pacific Games in PNG n July.) He was already in Cairns with his Oceania AA coach, ex-international athlete Glynis Nunn-Cearns. He was joined by male sprinters Enetty Isopo, Enoka Kirata, John Ruka, and Utiraoi Takaria; also by male throwers Bwareeta Tunee and Itaaka Temwaka. Unfortunately, on arrival, of the latter six athletes, only Utiraoi had adequate footwear, and so they were lucky to have any preparation at all, once this problem had been solved.
Accommodation for athletes and coaches was at the Nomads Backpackers Hostel, while the Technical Officials stayed at the Rydges Hotel.
IAAF Presidential candidates present.
The competition was graced and privileged to enjoy the largely informal company of (Lord) Sebastian Coe and (Dr.) Sergey Bubka for the Opening Ceremony (May 5th.) and the days of competition. Seb acted as starter for a 1500m. race and Sergey acted for a time as a field judge. Both circulated the stadium and conversed freely with a big range of people from the visiting teams. Both Seb and Sergey are bidding to be the new IAAF President when Lamine Diack steps down.
Overall impression.
Results are available on the Oceania AA (Fox Sport Pulse) web-site. Apart from Australia, Regional Australia, and New Zealand, the most successful teams seemed to be from Fiji, Samoa, and PNG. Several Championship Records were broken.
KAA performances.
For KAA, as expected, David Birati was the most successdul athlete, setting a new NR for Mens HJ with 1.95m. (breaking his own record.) John Ruka was the best of the sprinters, while Bwareeta (Shot) and Itaaka (Discus) maintained their head-to-head successes.
It was significant that the four sprinters averaged 12.16 secs for their 100m. Heats, but together as a Relay team they averaged a superior 11.39 ! Their Relay time of 45.47 is one of the fastest ever by a KAA team. Each individual needs to generate similar focus and urgency if they are to be more successful as individuals !
Results - on attachment. (Please persevere - they are readable !)
Plus a new starter.
Also present in Cairns, and making frequent contact with the team, was Mr. Tonobwa Kaoten (new Vice-President of KAA) to participate in the IAAF Starters' course. He would be the first I-Kiribati to so qualify. As well as completing several sessions of theory, he and the other course members also had the chance of practical experience as part of Starters' teams at the Championships.
Images.
Group at Cairns airport; group at Opening Ceremony; Tonobwa at Opening; Sprint group (Enoka, John, Utiraoi, Enetty); Enetty at start (nearest camera); Throwers (Itaaka, Bwareeta); David on LJ approach; David landing after 1.95m. clearance; happy David with coach Glynis.
Last Modified on 14/05/2015 22:48