Vulita closes in on national record at Oceania Championships
BY RICHARD MENANOPO
Solomon Islands athlete Yankee Vulita has moved to within one second of the national 400 metres hurdles record after an impressive performance at the ongoing 2026 Oceania Athletics Championships in Darwin, Australia.
Vulita produced a personal best time of 57.64 seconds in the heats to qualify for the men’s 400m hurdles final, emerging as one of Team Solomon Islands’ standout performers on day four of the regional championships at Arafura Stadium on Thursday.
According to a press release shared by the National Sports Council (NSC) Solomon Islands, Vulita is now just one second behind the national record set by the late George Tarai.
“A standout performance came from Yankee Vulita, who qualified for the 400m hurdles final after running a personal best of 57.64 seconds in the heats.
“He is now just one second shy of the national record set by the late George Tarai,” NSC said.
The 400m hurdles final featuring Vulita is scheduled for today at 5:50pm Solomon Islands time.
Meanwhile, Solomon Islands athletes continued to deliver encouraging results across several track and field events during Thursday’s competition schedule.
In the men’s 400m events, Leeroy Alulu clocked a season-best time of 50.73 seconds to finish 10th, while Francis Dau also registered a season-best performance of 51.27 seconds for 11th place.
Vulita followed closely with another personal best effort of 52.02 seconds, placing 13th overall.
Junior David also recorded strong performances in both field and sprint events. He produced a season-best leap of 6.37 metres in the long jump to finish ninth and later clocked a personal best time of 11.24 seconds in the men’s 100m event.
In the women’s competition, Julian Sosimo delivered a season-best throw of 31.78 metres in the javelin event to place 12th overall.
The NSC said Solomon Islands athletes continued to show positive progress and valuable international exposure during the regional championships.
“Solomon Islands Athletics Team continues its campaign at the 2026 Oceania Athletics Championships in Darwin, Australia, with athletes producing a series of encouraging performances across track and field events at Arafura Stadium,” NSC said.
Thursday’s schedule also featured Solomon Islands athletes competing in the men’s triple jump, 200m heats, women’s 100m hurdles heats and final, and the men’s 800m final.
The Oceania Athletics Championships runs from May 18 to 24 at Arafura Stadium in Darwin and has attracted more than 800 athletes from 23 countries across the Oceania region. The competition is being streamed live through World Athletics platforms.
Photo credit: St. Dominic Athletics Club Solomon Islands/Facebook
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