Athletes chase medals at Games in Top End

SIX athletes with links to Bendigo Region clubs will compete at next week’s Oceania Games in Darwin.

South Bendigo clubmates Emma Berg, Jasper Seymour and Connor Wilson will show their skills in field disciplines; Echuca Moama’s Harrison Sly in hurdles; and Eaglehawk’s Cat Monahan on field and track, and Chris Pollard in the walks action.

Six days of competition has drawn athletes from as afield as Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

There will be competition across Senior, Junior, Para and Masters categories.

A six-time national open women’s shot put champion, Emma Berg will be among the leading contenders at Arafura Stadium in the Top End.

Berg was a silver medallist at the 2024 Oceania Games in Suva, Fiji and achieved a mark of 16.13 metres to win gold at last month’s Australian Athletics national titles in Sydney.

The women’s open shot at this Oceania campaign will be on Friday 22 May.

The Games begin on Monday in which Sly and Wilson will both compete in the under-18 category.

Sly’s in the 400m hurdles, and Wilson in shot put.

At the national junior titles in Brisbane, Sly was third in the 400m hurdles final.

Wilson struck gold as he hit the 17.26m mark in the under-18 final.

On Tuesday it will be Jasper Seymour vying for success in the under-18 discus.

A personal best of 54.34m earnt Seymour bronze at nationals.

It’s a hectic campaign for Monahan in the Masters events.

First-up will be the 60m hurdles on Monday.

A gun competitor for Eaglehawk in Athletics Victoria Shield League, Monahan will run the 100m on Tuesday, the 200m on Wednesday.

Final events on the 21st will be the 400m, and long jump.

Pollard will contest the 3000m walk on Tuesday, and the 5000m walk next Friday.

The Oceania Athletics Championships were first run in 1990 in Suva, Fiji.

Other host cities for the Oceania Games have been Adelaide, Apia, Auckland, Cairns, Christchurch, Mackay, Nuku’alofa, Papeete, Raratonga, Saipan, and Townsville.

It’s the first time the Games have been run in Darwin.