8 athletics events canceled

In this file photo, the CNMI’s Oldie Roligat, left, and Tyler Santos, compete in the 2019 Oceania Athletics Championships in Queensland, Australia. The Commonwealth’s athletes will not be seeing action on the track this year with the cancelation of eight tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Oceania Athletics Association)

As anticipated, the Oceania Athletics Association scrapped eight competitions under its zone this year, including the Micronesian Regional Championships.

In a press statement, OAA competition manager Tom O’Shaughnessy said that after the Oceania Athletics Council Meeting last Aug. 20, the association came up with the difficult decision of canceling regional tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Besides the Micronesian Regional Championships, which Saipan was supposed to host in June, but was initially suspended, other events shelved were the Melanesian Championships in Fiji, the Polynesian Championships in Tonga, the Oceana Half Marathon/Marathon, Oceania Combined Event Championships, Oceania Cross Country Championships, and Oceania 50K Walk Championships, which were also scheduled in Australia, and the Oceania Trail Championships in New Zealand.

Northern Marianas Athletics president Ramon Tebuteb said they support OAA’s call, as the health and safety of athletes and all the stakeholders in the sport must come first. He added that the tough decision was made after OAA got inputs from member federations, particularly the countries hosting the various competitions.

In this file photo, the CNMI’s Traven Quitugua, center, races in the 100m qualifying run during the 2019 Oceania Athletics Championships in Queensland, Australia. (Oceania Athletics Association)

“With these major events canceled, we must find ways not only how to keep our athletes in the region safe from the pandemic, but also to help them remain in shape as there will be more competitions awaiting them next year,” Tebuteb said.

The NMA president also said that they will continue to work with both local and federal authorities and other concerned agencies to navigate their way towards getting back athletics activities in the CNMI once it’s safe to do so.

Meanwhile, OAA recognized the impact of the cancelation of the tournaments to athletes and their respective federations, so the association is working on other ways to support their preparations for the Tokyo Olympic Games next year and the 2022 World Championships in Oregon. Some of the canceled events were supposed to be used as Olympic qualifiers in the region.

“OAA continues to work with all our member federations, World Athletics, and all other relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can support athletes and federations in this difficult time,” O’Shaughnessy said.