PNG’s Karo Iga leads men’s decathlon at halfway point

Papua New Guinea’s Karo Iga was in pole position in the Sol2023 Pacific Games men’s decathlon at the end of Monday’s first five events at Honiara’s National Stadium.

Iga won the first event (100m sprint) in 10.93 seconds, as well as the second event (long jump) with a best jump of 6.83 metres. In the fourth event, high jump, he broke the Pacific Games record (previously 1.91m) by leaping 1.94m to win, and he also won the 400m sprint in 49.72 seconds.

In fact, the only event not won by Iga was shot put, which was won by Tahiti’s Timona Poareu (12.06m). New Zealand’s Stephen Thorpe finished second with a best shot of 11.62m, and Iga came in third place with 10.78m.

Thorpe also finished second in the high jump and both track events, leaving him second overall on the leaderboard.

“I’m pretty stoked, it has been a pretty cool day and it’s an awesome experience here so far, and I’m keen to get back out and do it all again tomorrow,” Thorpe told the Pacific Games News Service.

Iga declined to comment until the conclusion of the decathlon on Tuesday.

At the end of day one and after five of ten events, Iga leads with 3760 points, followed by Thorpe in second place with 3299 points and Poareu in third place with 3187 points. Not far behind on 2933 points is Max Teuruaa of Cook Islands, followed by Solomon Islands’ Alfred Ilisia in fifth on 2446 points. Tonga’s Maleselo Fufofuka is in sixth place with 2371 points, and Solomon Islands’ Elton Tata trails with 1814 points.

The decathlon resumes at 11am on Tuesday with the remaining five events – 110m hurdles, discus 2kg, pole vault, javelin 800g and the 1500m race.

By Lamantha Lano, Pacific Games News Service