Francis Kompaon

Francis Kompaon (born 16 January 1986 in Rabaul[1]) is a T46 Papua New Guinean athlete.

Francis Kompaon
Medal record
Men's para athletics (T46)
Representing  Papua New Guinea
Paralympic Games
2008 Beijing 100 m T46
Pacific Games
2015 Port Moresby100 m Ambulent

He represented Papua New Guinea at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, competing in athletics in the one hundred metre sprint, T46 category. With a time of 11.10 seconds, he finished second in the final, five hundredths of a second behind Australia's Heath Francis. It was Papua New Guinea's first ever Olympic or Paralympic medal,[2][3][4] and only the second ever Olympic or Paralympic medal won by a Pacific Islander; Tongan boxer Paea Wolfgramm had won a silver at the 1996 Olympics.[5] He also competed in the 200-metre sprint, finishing ninth overall in the heats, with a time of 23.30 seconds.[6] Kompaon was his country's flagbearer at the Games' opening ceremony,[7] and was one of fifteen competitors (out of over 4000) selected to carry the torch during the Paralympic torch relay in Beijing.[8]

He had previously won several gold medals at regional competitions in Oceania, and had finished fourth in the 200m sprint for élite athletes with disabilities at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.[9]

Papua New Guinea's sports minister Dame Carol Kidu said that Kompaon's Paralympic medal had "raised the issue of disability in Papua New Guinea to a level that it has never been".[10] In direct response to Kompaon's medal, Prime Minister Michael Somare promised that the government would increase funding for disability sports.[11]

In 2009, Kompaon enrolled in sports management at Griffith University in Queensland.[12]

He qualified as one of two athletes to represent Papua New Guinea at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London,[13] and was again selected to be his country's flag-bearer during the Games' opening ceremony[14] competed in the men's 100m and 200m T46 (the category for upper limb amputees). In the 200m, he finished sixth (of eight) in his heat, with a new personal best of 23.05, and did not advance to the final.[15] In his main event, the 100m, he finished third (of seven) in heat 2, qualifying for the final as the fastest loser overall with a personal best time of 11.21 (fifth fastest overall over the three heats). In the final, however, he was unable to repeat his Beijing performance; he "injured his hamstring near the finish line" and finished seventh (of eight) in 12.28.[16][17]

References
  1. Francis Kompaon's biography Archived 18 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine on the official website of the 2008 Paralympics
  2. "Silver for Francis Kompaon" Archived 23 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Oceania Athletics Association, 15 September 2008
  3. "Kompaon a champ on our national day" Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Post Courier, 16 September 2008
  4. "Heath Francis: Triple Paralympic gold medallist", The Age, 16 September 2008
  5. "Francis' medal for PNG the start of 'something special'", ABC Radio Australia, 18 September 2008
  6. "Kompaon eyes 100m" Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Post Courier, 11 September 2008
  7. Official list of flagbearers Archived 9 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine on the website of the International Paralympic Committee
  8. "Sponsors bid PNG farewell" Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Post Courier, 3 September 2008
  9. "Preview of Island Athletes at the Paralympic Games" Archived 23 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Oceania Athletics Association, 1 September 2008
  10. "PNG senators 'thrilled' by Kompaon Paralympics silver", ABC Radio Australia, 18 September 2008
  11. "Sir Michael boosts disabled sport, Kompoan (sic) gets performance bonus", ABC Radio Australia, 19 September 2008 Archived 19 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Kompoan (sic) heading to QLD's Griffith Univserity". ABC Radio Australia. 21 January 2009. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012.
  13. "Harabe makes London Games", The National, 5 April 2012
  14. "Paralympic athletes praise Cardiff for warm welcome", Your Cardiff, 23 August 2012
  15. Results : men's 200m T46, official website
  16. Results: men's 100m T46, official website
  17. "Sport: PNG’s Kompaon misses out on medal in 100m final", Radio New Zealand International, 6 September 2012
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.