Firisua doubts better performance at the Games

BY ROMULUS HUTA

Sharon Firisua and Patrick Kam joins the other members of Glenhuntly athletics for a group photoshoot during a training session. (INSERT) Sharon Firisua races toward the finish line in the 1500m of the Victoria Milers race last week

FEMALE national distance runner Sharon Firisua is having doubts she might not perform to her best in next month’s Commonwealth Games given she started very late in her training.

Firisua is one of the four athletes that will represent Solomon Islands in athletics in the Commonwealth Games which will begin on April 4 in Gold Coast.

Since February 23, Firisua and fellow male country long distance rep Patrick Kam are being training at the Glenhuntly Athletics Club in Melbourne, Australia.

The arrangement to have Firisua and Kam train in Australia comes under an International Olympic Committee (IOC) funded scholarship.

The scholarship is to enable the country’s top athletes train at performance-enhancing facilities overseas to prepare them for upcoming global sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games next month and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Speaking to SunSPORTS from Melbourne yesterday, Firisua said that due to other circumstances, she and her partner could not depart earlier for Australia to get an earlier start to their preparations.

“We left on February 22 and now we only have one month left to prepare for the Commonwealth Games.

“Our trip had a bit of a delay from the start due to other circumstances.

“One month of training is not enough and involves a lot of tiring catch up sessions on fitness and pretty much hard work,” Firisua, who claimed top female athlete award of the 2017 Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu said.

Despite this, Firisua and Kam remain optimistic of putting up to their best when competing on the tracks in the 5,000m events in both the men and women’s categories where they will take part in.

“Well, as I have mentioned I’m not ready due to late preparation. This is my second time to participate in the Commonwealth and I already know what to expect. It will be tough. The Commonwealth is the same as the Olympics. The pace of the race is tough and holds not so much difference with the Olympic Games.

“But anyway, I just have to leave all this behind and put up strong focus to concentrate on the great opportunity ahead which racing the tracks against the best in Gold Coast next month.

“We participated in two competitions in the previous weeks and came up really good results.

“We look forward to the opportunity in the Commonwealth Games and our aim is to finish with better results on the finish line,” she said.

Firisua and Kam will spend the next remaining weeks and days this month training in Melbourne before joining the rest of the ‘One Team Solomon’ members prior to the kickoff of the Games.

Firisua and Kam are expected to meet the rest of the ‘One team Solomon’ members in Brisbane on March 25, enroute to the Games in Gold Coast.

The Commonwealth Games will run from April 4 to 15.

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