Two of the three Marshall Islands athletes competing in the early stages of the Paris Olympic Games delivered “personal best” times in their events.
Phillip Kinono swam a personal best time of 27.43 seconds in the 50m freestyle event. He won his heat, which was an early preliminary heat.
His time placed him number six among Pacific island swimmers competing in Paris and 64th overall in the Paris Games swimming competition.
Kayla Hepler came in second in her heat in the 50m freestyle race in a time of 30.33 seconds. The Organization of National Olympic Committees posted Kayla’s time and that of several other Pacific island swimmers competing in other heats the same day. A Pohnpeian swimmer, Kestra Kihleng, swam the same race about a second and a half faster, at 28.82 seconds, while PNG swimmer Georgia-Leigh Vele was even faster at 27.61 seconds. Both these swimmers were in other heats and both came in fourth place.
On the track, RMI’s lone track competitor, William Reed turned in a personal best running time in the 100m sprint. He ran his preliminary heat in 11.29 seconds, which was good for sixth place in the heat.
For perspective on this race, the men’s 100m finals featured eight runners who all ran the race in under 10 seconds.
William’s 11.29 seconds was .20 seconds faster than his time in the 100m dash at the Micronesian Games in Majuro this past June. Had he run at the Paris pace in Majuro, he would have tied Kiribati sprinter Tetoa Uaraoia for the silver medal. His 11.49 speed was good for seventh place at the Micro Games.
The competition for the RMI’s fourth and last athlete is coming up Friday. Weightlifter Mattie Sasser competes in the 59kg weight class this Friday, August 9, at 1am Majuro date/time.