Sports
Pohnpei Shines at 5th Micronesian Games
Games Show Improvement of Small Island Athletes
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Individual records were broken left and right at the Micronesian Games in Pohnpei in July. But Pohnpei continued a trend that started in the 1998 Games in Palau. The trend means that Guam is no longer the invincible power in team sports that it was a decade ago. In the first two Micro Games of the 1990s, in Saipan and Guam, respectively, it was almost heresy to think one of the Micronesian teams could knock off a Guam team for a gold medal. Players’ height and the competitive advantage of a large population always helped Guam.
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In this year’s games, Guam continued to win the most team gold medals, but Yap won gold in women’s volleyball, Palau won gold in women’s basketball, and Pohnpei won gold in women’s softball. In canoe paddling, Palau men and women won four gold medals and Pohnpei men and women won two.
Another demonstration of how the competitive balance is changing in the Islands is the lineup of top medal winners: Palau was first with 71, including 23 gold. Second was the Northern Marianas with 67, including the most gold medals at 24. Host Pohnpei came in a very strong third with 64. Guam was fourth with 49.
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The two outstanding individual athletes at the Games were John Howard of Chuuk in track and field, and Xenavee Pangelinan of Saipan. Howard won gold in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes, setting new Games records of 10.88 and 22.15 seconds, respectively. Pangelinan won 10 gold medals and broke several swimming speed records.
Pohnpei, despite its relatively late start on building sports facilities for the Games, had the necessary infrastructure in place by opening day July 22 and more than demonstrated it was ready to host the Games. Even the normally rainy skies cooperated to allow the outdoor sports to run smoothly. Now, Pohnpeian athletes will begin reaping the benefits of the new facilities: A new six-lane track field, swimming pool complex, tennis courts, indoor gymnasium and lighted baseball fields are among Pohnpei’s new international level sports facilities.
Before the close of this year’s competition, the Micronesian Games Council gave Yap State the nod to host the next Micronesian Games in 2006, following a bidding contest between the Marshall Islands and Yap. "This was the first time for us to have a serious bid from two (Micronesian) countries," Bill Keldermans, the vice president of Palau’s National Olympic Committee and the newly-elected president of the Micronesian Games Council, said after the 12-8 vote for Yap. Keldermans replaces Bill Sakovich of the Northern Marianas, who has presided over the Games Council since its formation in 1990. Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee head Kenneth Kramer, a silver medallist in wrestling, was elected treasurer and Pohnpei’s Sheldon Neth remains as secretary general.
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Tragically, the weekend after the Games had finished, while waiting for their flight home, three Palauan players on the bronze medal softball team were killed in a flash flood at the Liduduhniap (Twin) Falls in Nett Municipality. Claudia Ngirasob, 41, Dawn Bachungor, 17, and Rita Gracia Sungino, 32, died after being swept off the top of the first fall and into the swirling pool below. Top elected officials from Palau flew to Pohnpei to return the bodies home.
For more information on the games, check out www.microgames.fm.
| 5th Micronesian Games 2002 | ||||
| MEDAL TALLY | ||||
| State | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
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| Chuuk | 10 | 3 | 10 | 23 |
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| CNMI | 24 | 26 | 17 | 67 |
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| Guam | 20 | 14 | 45 | 49 |
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| Kiribati | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
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| Kosrae | 8 | 2 | 5 | 15 |
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| Marshalls | 11 | 14 | 11 | 36 |
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| Palau | 23 | 28 | 20 | 71 |
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| Pohnpei | 16 | 20 | 28 | 64 |
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| Yap | 11 | 11 | 6 | 28 |
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