For thousands of people watching the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25, Pais Wisil’s performance in the men’s 60m may have gone largely unnoticed. But for the Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea, it marked a major breakthrough.
Not only did Wisil break the national indoor record, clocking 6.66 in the heats to chop 0.13 off the mark set 30 years ago by Pete Pulu, but he also became the first athlete from Papua New Guinea to advance to the semifinal stage at a senior global athletics championships.
Gone are the days when athletes from Papua New Guinea would simply fill a lane in the ‘preliminary’ round at major championships; following his experience in Nanjing, Wisil now has his sights set on the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 where he aims to show that athletes from small island nations can compete alongside the world’s best.
Sprinter Pais Wisil (© Athletics Papua New Guinea)
“I was very excited to qualify for the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing this year,” said Wisil, who followed up his national record in the heats with a 6.73 run in the semifinals. “It was my goal from the start of last year when I first started training in Australia.
“To get the opportunity to compete with the best on a world stage is just the start of my goals. The stadium was amazing – it was my first ever time competing indoors and I loved it. Everyone was so kind: the organisers, the officials – it was as though they knew it was my first time, and they did their best to make me feel comfortable. The crowd was crazy; they cheered for every athlete and were so supportive. They motivated me to run faster.”
Less than a week before competing in Nanjing, Wisil had broken another one of Pulu’s national records from 1995, clocking 10.24 over 100m at the Queensland Track and Field Championships in Brisbane. He’s hoping to revise it further as the season progresses.
“My goals for this season are to continue learning with each race,” he said. “I haven’t put together a complete race yet, and I’m excited for when I do. Obviously, I want to continue to lower my national records, improve my 200m (21.49), and hopefully achieve selection for the World Championships.”
In his quest to compete on the sport’s biggest stages, Wisil has the perfect role model in the form of his older sister Toea. She represented Papua New Guinea at three Olympic Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016) and two World Championships (2013 and 2017). She also holds the women’s national records at every sprint distance (11.29 for 100m, 23.13 for 200m and 53.19 for 400m).
Toea Wisil (right) running alongside Allyson Felix at the London 2012 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
Meanwhile their older brother Kupun, also a sprinter, represented Papua New Guinea in the 100m at two Commonwealth Games.
“It is an amazing blessing for my family that both my sister Toea and I now hold multiple national records between us,” said Wisil. “My brother Kupun was also a very talented athlete and seeing both he and Toea compete (when I was younger) and the opportunities it gave them in life got me very interested.
“I’ve been so fortunate this year to be invited to compete in some of the Continental Tour meets and I really want to thank the meet organisers for giving me these opportunities. With the World Athletics rankings systems, it is important for me to try and increase my points and I will take all these opportunities to do it.”
With continued racing opportunities on the international circuit, Wisil hopes to earn his place at the World Championships in Tokyo – and ensure that Papua New Guinea is once again represented beyond the first round.
Maphuti Hlako for World Athletics
AloJapan.com