Medallist finally receives cash incentive from gov’t

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One of the country’s medallists at the Honiara Pacific Games last year who missed out from government’s incentive to the winning athletes received her token of appreciation today.

Judo silver medallist Elizabeth Tengai received the financial incentive from the caretaker minister of home affairs, Wayne Ghemu.

Team Solomon won 79 medals at the Pacific Games placing 6th on the medal table with: 12 gold, 37 silver and 30 bronze, the highest in the country’s history.

Soon after the game, former prime minister Manasseh Sogavare hosted a function to thank the winning athletes and awarded them with their cash incentives. However, Tengai was the only winning athlete not to receive her cash incentive at that time.

The incentive included $10,000 per gold medal, $7,500 per silver and $5,000for a bronze.

“Today gives us an opportunity to celebrate our athletes once again.

Well done on your achievement and I look forward to you winning gold next time,” said Ghemu.

“I look forward to seeing more Elizabeth Tengai’s being identified and nurtured to succeed in the international sports arena,” the minister, added.

Meanwhile, the minister said: “We do not want just great memories of the 2023 Pacific Games. We want our athletes to achieve their dreams and to succeed on the international sporting stage. We want to ensure that our national flag flies high and our national anthem rings out as our athletes win more medals and break more records.”

However, he said, this takes dedication, discipline and perseverance for each athlete driven by a deep desire and hunger to win.

Ghemu added: “We cannot be the ‘nice guys’ all the time – but we must be the winners.”

Ghemu said this also requires “us” to have a sports system which is a seamless process for athletes to be identified as having talent which is then nurtured by the national federations and supported by the National Sports Council.

“We need to have qualified coaches who are experts at seeking out talented athletes at a young age. The education system must support athletes with the potential to succeed on the international stage. This can only happen if we put our athletes and pikinini first. They have to be at the centre of everything that we do,” he said.