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Tapoki is woman to beat in discus
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Posted on Jun 21 2008
Cook Islands record holder Terapii Tapoki is expected to take home the gold medal in the women’s discuss of the 2008 Oceania Championships.
According to the Oceania Athletics’ website, Tapoki is literally head and shoulders above the field with a 23-meter advantage over the next best discus participant—Perle Buard of Tahiti.
Tapoki’s seed distance is 55.72m, but her best in the 2008 rankings is 53.70m—still a comfortable distance ahead of everyone else’s seed throw.
Australia’s Kelly Humphries, meanwhile, is the clear favorite in the hammer with a seed performance of 51.74m, while teammate Olivia Birkett is in contention for the bronze with a seed performance of 37.96m.
Guam’s Aiko Imbat is the best from the Pacific Islands with a seed throw of 24.88m.
The women’s javelin throw, meanwhile, is expected to be contested by Fiji’s Milika Tuivanuavou (seed throw of 39.92m) and Cook Islands’ Maki Lockington (37.92m) . The third competitor in the event is Imbat with her best distance at 27.57m.
In the under-18 women’s, Margaret Satupai from Samoa looks likely to continue her impressive young career.
She has a seed distance of 14.62m, well ahead of Australia’s Iesha Beer who has recorded 13.45m. The CNMI and Tahiti athletes have no seed performances listed, but it is hard to see Satupai being seriously challenged by athletes from the two islands.
Three are entered in the discus throw and the leading contender is again Satupai. Buard has a listed performance of 28.13m and CNMI’s Jenequa Benavente has no listed performance.
The same trio are listed in the hammer throw. This time Satupai does not have such a large lead over the other two. Her seed distance is 38.74m and that for Buard is 32.64m. Benavente has no listed seed performance.
The javelin contest has six entries and three are within two meters of each other. Marginally ahead as favorite is Patricia Taea from the Cook Islands (39.27m). Next on the ranking list is New Zealand’s Tamara Anstis (38.07m) and then Buard (37.83m). The only other athlete with a seed performance is American Samoa’s Faleala Talataina (31.17m).
