Wisil and Padio headline stars at 2025 SP Sports Awards

PNG Sprint king Pais Wisil in action during the Short Track Championships *(Image: Oceania Athletics)*

Sprint sensation Pais Wisil and football star Ramona Padio claimed top honors at the 34th SP Sports Awards on Saturday night, headlining a star-studded celebration of Papua New Guinea’s sporting elite at the Crown Hotel.

The annual awards ceremony, themed around excellence, unity, and inspiration, recognized the pinnacle of individual and team achievements across a blockbuster 2025 international and domestic season.

Wisil completely dominated the track in 2025, a feat recognized by the national selection panel and the public alike as he walked away with both the prestigious Male Athlete of the Year title and the public-voted People’s Choice Award.

The blistering sprinter firmly re-established PNG’s track-and-field dominance by shattering Peter Pulu’s 30-year-old national 100-meter record. Wisil clocked a phenomenal 10.24 seconds, comfortably eclipsing Pulu's long-standing 10.40-second benchmark set back in 1995.

Earlier in his campaign, Wisil set a new national indoor standard in the 60-meter sprint with a time of 6.64 seconds in Canberra, Australia. He translated that momentum to the Pacific Mini Games in Palau, where he claimed individual Gold in the Men’s 100-meter before anchoring Team PNG to another record-shattering performance to claim Gold in the 4x100-meter relay.

In the female category, PNG Bilums captain Ramona Padio was crowned Female Athlete of the Year following a masterclass in leadership and consistency on the pitch. Padio guided the national side to an undefeated, clean-sheet victory at the MSG Prime Ministers Cup before captaining them to lift the inaugural 2025 Women’s MSG Cup on home soil in Port Moresby.

Female Athlete of The Year goes to PNG Bilums captain Ramona Padio *(Image: PNGFA)*

The veteran midfielder also captured regional attention by scoring one of the tournament’s finest goals during the OFC Nations Cup final, where PNG finished as runners-up.

On the club stage, she propelled local powerhouse Hekari United to a silver-medal finish at the OFC Women’s Champions League final. Her dazzling performances throughout 2025 culminated in a historic nomination for the prestigious Best FIFA Women’s World 11 midfielder shortlist.

In the junior divisions, weightlifting prodigy Lawrence Reva Oala scooped the Coca-Cola Euro Pacific Partners PNG Junior Male Athlete of the Year award. Oala proved his mettle against global competition, placing eighth in the Youth 49kg and 19th in the Junior 55kg classes at the IWF Youth & Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru. He backed up his world-stage campaign with a haul of Gold [Youth 56kg[ and Bronze [Junior 60kg] at the Oceania Championships in Melbourne.

The Carbine Club Team of the Year accolade went to the PNG Lewas, rewarding a historic period of international ascendancy for women's cricket. The Lewas beat out football’s PNG Bilums and volleyball’s PNG Amoa after winning the 2025 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific [EAP] Championship and the inaugural PacificAus Sports Cricket Invitational.

Their monumental rise was capped off by the International Cricket Council [ICC] awarding the Lewas official One Day International [ODI] status for the 2025–2029 cycle, alongside historic match victories over higher-ranked opponents Thailand and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Port Moresby’s Sparrows Netball Club secured the Brands Pacific National Performance of the Year award. The capital’s largest club, boasting more than 200 members, pulled off an unprecedented clean sweep of premiership flags across the U10, U13, U15, U17, U21, and Premier Divisions, extending their unbroken post-COVID dominance to five consecutive years [2021–2025].

Multi-sport pioneer Dorna Longbut was named the CPL Para-Athlete of the Year. Returning from a significant injury lay-off, Longbut collected double Gold in the Women’s 100m Ambulant and Long Jump Ambulant, alongside a Shot Put Silver at the Pacific Mini Games in Palau. She repeated the triple-podium feat at the Goroka National Championships before pivoting to secure international coaching and safeguarding credentials to guide Special Olympics PNG badminton athletes to medal success.

Dorna Longbutt wins gold during the 2025 Palau Mini Games (Image: Supplied)

The Trukai Industries Sports Official of the Year award was presented to weightlifting head coach Willie Mavara Tamasi. Tamasi masterminded a staggering national haul of 14 Gold, 10 Silver, and 16 Bronze medals across 2025, directing podium-topping performances from elite lifters Dika Toua, Morea Baru, and Steven Kari at the Pacific Mini Games and Oceania Senior Championships.

At the grassroots level, the Jonah Kautu Academy won the Community Sports Initiative of the Year, recognized for deploying 30 weeks of structured rugby clinics and development festivals across the National Capital District [NCD] to foster youth development through sport.

The night also celebrated the storytellers behind the nation's sporting achievements. Senior sports journalist and broadcaster Terry Longbut captured the Trukai Industries Sports Media of the Year award for his authoritative coverage anchoring TV Wan Sports News and commentating for the PNG Hunters, Digicel ExxonMobil Cup, and the Pacific Rugby League Championships.

Rounding out the media honors, Post Courier senior reporter Simon Keslep won the Sports Photo of the Year for his dynamic action shot, Softball, which beautifully froze a high-stakes, airborne defensive play and captured the raw human effort that defines Papua New Guinea sports.