First-time Olympian ready to hit the tracks

Papua New Guinea sprinter Leonie Beu is poised to compete in her first Olympic Games today when the athletics competition starts in Paris.

Beu will be in action in the preliminary round of the 100m race at 10:35 am local time [6:35pm PNG Time] with hopes to proceed to the next cut against some of world’s best runners.

She will run in the third of four heats with a total of 36 athletes contesting the preliminary round, from which 17 will advance to round one proper at 11:50am local time [7:50pm PNG time] where they will join the world elite sprinters.

Athletics PNG have reported that Beu is in top-notch form and look forward to the short sprint event under the guidance of coach Brett Green.

“Leonie has done everything required of an Olympian in her preparation. Her last week has been great, and we are looking forward to a fast run in the preliminary round to progress to round 1,” Green said.

Making her debut on the global sports platform, Beu attended a starts session yesterday with games official to acclimatize to the top competition considering her inexperience at the Olympics.

The first three in each heat of the preliminaries as well as the next five fastest of all the others will qualify for round one proper.

A total of 72 athletes will contest round one across 8 heats of nine athletes. Beu will need to elevate her tempo to secure one of the 27 semifinals spot.

Meanwhile, swimmer Georgia-Leigh Vele will compete in the 50m Freestyle tomorrow, weightlifter Morea Baru in the 61kg division on Wednesday [7th of August], followed by taekwondo athletes Kevin Kassman in the -68kg division on Thursday, and Gibson Mara in the +80kg division on Saturday 10th August.