Today marks exactly 100 days until the Pacific Games (XVII Pacific Games) kicks off. The multi-sporting event for the Pacific countries is scheduled to be held in Honiara, the Capital of the Solomon Islands, between November 19th to December 2nd, 2023.
Team PNG is tracking well in its preparations and is expected to send a large contingent of 400
athletes and officials to take part in the games.
The Chef de Mission of Team PNG, Faye-Zina Lalo confirmed that about 23 out of 25 teams are
ready. They have completed more than 90% of the selection process. The remaining 10% of the
selection will be made in the coming months.
“Some of the teams have not finalized their selections yet. However, as of 27th July, most of our
athletes have been selected by their respective teams or sports.
“They have now gone through the second stage of selection, which is testing and training. All the
athletes have gone through that, which is a mandatory prerequisite or requirement for all the
athletes to meet.
“But to give an estimate, I would say we are 90% done with the selections of athletes and officials.
Appointments for the technical officials need to be done as well. I think we are tracking well as a
team,” Lalo stated.
Lalo adds that she knows and expects team PNG to travel to the Solomon Islands and return with better results, like what happened at the 2015 Pacific Games. The team is confident but they acknowledge that there would be challenges.
“During the last Pacific Games held in Samoa, PNG came second in the medal tally. After that, the
COVID-19 has affected some sports but we have recouped and still wanted to do better, as nobody
trains hard to come second place.
“We always wanted to win and come on top of the medal tally. We are trying to support the team
and for the 10% that are not prepared, we hope to fast-track things and get them prepared. The
more athletes we send, the more chances we have in winning and increasing our medal tally,” Lalo added.
The Chef de Mission said that their main challenge is mostly financial backing, which will enable
them to send the team to Honiara. She has urged the Government, business houses and everyone to give their undivided support to Team PNG, especially in terms of financial assistance.
“We have the PNG Government pledging to support us. We have held fundraisers. Trukai is helping
us with the Fun Run. If you want to support team PNG, go down to any Stop & Shop and buy a fun run T-Shirt for the upcoming Fun Run Event on the 20th of August. But if you just want to support a donation, contact the PNG Olympics Committee or the PNG Sports Foundation,“ she concluded.
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