WELLINGTON: Solomon Islands has nominated a marathon runner to compete within the girls’s 100m Olympic heats on Friday (Aug 2) – to the shock of the Pacific nation’s dash champion.
Distance runner and two-time Olympian Sharon Firisua has not run the 100m in top-level competitors however will dash alongside the world’s greatest on the Stade de France.
The Solomon Islands Athletics Federation had really helpful two sprinters take up coveted wildcard spots on the video games.
As an alternative, the nation’s Olympic committee named 30-year-old Firisua, a nationwide 1,500m champion who completed 72nd within the marathon on the Tokyo Olympics however didn’t qualify for her chosen occasion this time spherical.
The choice was a “shock”, Michael Kuali, president of the Solomon Islands Athletics Federation, instructed Australian broadcaster ABC.
Firisua’s nomination drew the wrath of 22-year-old Solomon’s 100m and 200m champion Jovita Arunia who had dreamt of racing in Paris.
“We are the sprinters. I do not know what went unsuitable, it is unbelievable,” she instructed ABC.
The nation’s Olympic committee didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Arunia threatened to stop athletics over the choice.
“I can’t compete anymore due to what they did,” she stated.