To continue this free service to you, we include affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission from purchases made through links. Commissions received from linked purchases will help fund ongoing costs.
Long-distance runner Sharon Firisua was selected for the 100m sprints because she “was the only active athlete name in the system”, Solomon Islands’ Olympic chief has revealed, shedding light on a decision described as a “shock”. One of only two Solomon Islands athletes in France, Firisua made headlines after she was offered the country’s wildcard spot in the flagship heats, despite being a marathon runner.
Firisua, who finished 72nd in the marathon at the 2021 Tokyo Games, was aiming to compete in the marathon again in Paris but missed out on qualification and had never competed in the 100m before. On Friday evening AEST, Firisua competed in the 100m preliminary heats, running a time of 14.31 seconds and finishing last in her heat at the Stade de France.
She offered no comment on the controversial decision, but Martin Rara, president of the National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI) has issued a statement arguing “there was a process in place”. He said the decision was made out of necessity rather than personal choice or random selection and it was essential to retain the Solomon Islands’ universality slot for the Olympics Games LA 2028.
According to Mr Rara, the Solomon Islands Athletics Federation had nominated Firisua and fellow athlete Steven Rahausi in the first instance, without specifying their events and their names were entered into the system in April 2024. After the Oceania Athletics Championships in Fiji, there was another submission for athletes Jovita Aruina Ambrose and Luke Haga, however, Mr Rara said they were advised they had missed the entry dates for the Paris Games.
“The Athletics Federation of Solomon Islands then came back to NOCSI and reached out to Oceania Athletics Association, but the response was to bring it up with the Paris 2024 Games Organising Committee,” Mr Rara said.World Athletics was consulted and confirmed that Firisua was the only athlete eligible to compete for the Solomon Islands due to her active status in the database without a tagged event.
“There was no option as Sharon Firisua was the only active athlete name in the system,” Mr Rara said, adding that NOCSI had no choice but to ask Firisua to run the 100m or risk losing spots at LA 2028 and potentially being fined. “If there was anybody else entered into the system, we would have gone with another option, a middle-distance runner or sprinter,” Mr Rara said. “There was an administrative issue of late entries that has resulted in this situation.”
This article was found on Australia’s ABC.