Earlier this month, two our elite athletes returned to Palau for 2 weeks before they headed to Japan to train. Christian Etpison Nicolescu and Blesam Tarkong was able to speak for a few minutes to our young student athletes from the 5th and 6th grade Koror Elementary School (KES). Both athletes, along with Florian Skilang Temengil, who is currently in the USA training, are our Gold medalist from the 2014 Micronesian Games and the 2015 Oceania Championships. All 3 will be attempting to qualify for the Olympics this year.
Both Christian and Blesam was able to share a piece of their story with the students before the KES PE practice. Both explained why they were wrestling and how they got involved in sports. Christian went to SDA School when he was young and said he got involved in wrestling at a later age because it was a challenging sport and it helped him prepare both physically and mentally as an athlete. Blesam explained that he wrestled at an early age while he attended KES and he is currently wrestling in Neosho County Community College in Kansas, USA. Blesam urged all the students to stay away from drugs, stay involved in sports, school and community activities and hopefully use sports as a way to obtain a scholarship and compete in college one day. In preparation for the upcoming Oceania Championships in New Zealand and also the Olympic Qualifiers both athletes are currently in Japan training at the moment.. After speaking to the kids, they were able to take part in the practice and demonstrate their skills, drills and other movements with the students. The kids really enjoyed practice and having them as role models.
Last Modified on 16/02/2016 16:09
