The Australian Government, through PacificAus Sports, will partner with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) to support more than 250 athletes from 13 Pacific nations as they prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The supported athletes will compete across 15 sports including athletics, swimming, boxing, weightlifting and Rugby 7s. Australia’s commitment to promoting greater inclusion of women and girls in sport at the highest levels remains in place with almost equal representation of both male and female athletes included in this support.
One of the athletes benefiting from the Australian Government’s support ahead of the Paris Games is Papua New Guinea long jumper Rellie Kaputin.
Ms Kaputin made her Olympic debut in Tokyo and finished ahead of nine other competitors despite entering the Games as the lowest ranked athlete in the long jump event.
“Leading into the Tokyo Olympic Games, the funding from Australia made a huge difference to me in my ability to be able to prepare for the Games as well as my competition at Games time,” Kaputin said. “I’m very grateful to again have that level of support as I prepare to represent not only Papua New Guinea, but my region at the Paris 2024 Olympics.”
Read the full ONOC release HERE.
About PacificAus Sports
PacificAus Sports is an Australian Government sports diplomacy initiative developing pathways for Pacific teams and athletes to compete in elite competitions and access high performance coaching in Australia and internationally. The program partners with Australian national sports organisations to support a range of Pacific sports, including rugby league, rugby union, netball, football, AFL, cricket and Olympic/Paralympic sports, with funding split evenly between women and men. PacificAus Sports also partners with the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) to promote Pacific sport through ABC Television’s ‘That Pacific Sports Show’ and ABC Radio’s ‘Fresh Off the Field’. The high performance outcomes of PacificAus Sports are complemented by the Australian Government’s Team Up program, which focuses on sport for development in the Pacific. For more information about PacificAus Sports and its initiatives, visit www.pacificaussports.gov.au and follow PacificAus Sports on Facebook.
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About ONOC
Established in 1981, the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) is one of five Continental Associations. It looks after the interests of 17 member nations in the Oceania Region, including Australia and New Zealand as well as seven associate members.
ONOC has an office in Guam where Secretary General Mr. Ricardo Blas is based and the Secretariat in Suva, Fiji, where the Office of the President Dr Robin Mitchell is located.
All services and-programmes are based on the ONOC Strategic Plan for 2018-2021, and its 4 Core Functions of (1) Building and Strengthening NOCs Capacity (2) Cultivating Strategic Partnerships (3) Contributing towards Sporting Excellence and (4) Leading by Example.
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For more information, please contact;
Shivneel Narayan
Chief Communications Officer (Acting)
shivneel@oceanianoc.org
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