Francis Kompaon
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short description
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's para athletics (T46) | ||
| Paralympic Games | ||
| Pacific Games |
Francis Kompaon (born 16 January 1986 in Rabaul[1]) is a T46 Papua New Guinean athlete.
He represented Papua New Guinea at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, competing in athletics in the one hundred metre sprint, T46 category. With a time of 11.10 seconds, he finished second in the final, five hundredths of a second behind Australia's Heath Francis. It was Papua New Guinea's first ever Olympic or Paralympic medal,[2][3][4] and only the second ever Olympic or Paralympic medal won by a Pacific Islander; Tongan boxer Paea Wolfgramm had won a silver at the 1996 Olympics.[5] He also competed in the 200-metre sprint, finishing ninth overall in the heats, with a time of 23.30 seconds.[6] Kompaon was his country's flagbearer at the Games' opening ceremony,[7] and was one of fifteen competitors (out of over 4000) selected to carry the torch during the Paralympic torch relay in Beijing.[8]
He had previously won several gold medals at regional competitions in Oceania, and had finished fourth in the 200m sprint for élite athletes with disabilities at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.[9]
Papua New Guinea's sports minister Dame Carol Kidu said that Kompaon's Paralympic medal had "raised the issue of disability in Papua New Guinea to a level that it has never been".[10] In direct response to Kompaon's medal, Prime Minister Michael Somare promised that the government would increase funding for disability sports.[11]
In 2009, Kompaon enrolled in sports management at Griffith University in Queensland.[12]
He qualified as one of two athletes to represent Papua New Guinea at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London,[13] and was again selected to be his country's flag-bearer during the Games' opening ceremony[14] competed in the men's 100m and 200m T46 (the category for upper limb amputees). In the 200m, he finished sixth (of eight) in his heat, with a new personal best of 23.05, and did not advance to the final.[15] In his main event, the 100m, he finished third (of seven) in heat 2, qualifying for the final as the fastest loser overall with a personal best time of 11.21 (fifth fastest overall over the three heats). In the final, however, he was unable to repeat his Beijing performance; he "injured his hamstring near the finish line" and finished seventh (of eight) in 12.28.[16][17]
References
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- ↑ Francis Kompaon's biography Template:Webarchive on the official website of the 2008 Paralympics
- ↑ "Silver for Francis Kompaon" Template:Webarchive, Oceania Athletics Association, 15 September 2008
- ↑ "Kompaon a champ on our national day" Template:Webarchive, Post Courier, 16 September 2008
- ↑ "Heath Francis: Triple Paralympic gold medallist" Template:Webarchive, The Age, 16 September 2008
- ↑ "Francis' medal for PNG the start of 'something special'" Template:Webarchive, ABC Radio Australia, 18 September 2008
- ↑ "Kompaon eyes 100m" Template:Webarchive, Post Courier, 11 September 2008
- ↑ Official list of flagbearers Template:Webarchive on the website of the International Paralympic Committee
- ↑ "Sponsors bid PNG farewell" Template:Webarchive, Post Courier, 3 September 2008
- ↑ "Preview of Island Athletes at the Paralympic Games" Template:Webarchive, Oceania Athletics Association, 1 September 2008
- ↑ "PNG senators 'thrilled' by Kompaon Paralympics silver" Template:Webarchive, ABC Radio Australia, 18 September 2008
- ↑ "Sir Michael boosts disabled sport, Kompoan (sic) gets performance bonus", ABC Radio Australia, 19 September 2008 Template:Webarchive
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ "Harabe makes London Games" Template:Webarchive, The National, 5 April 2012
- ↑ "Paralympic athletes praise Cardiff for warm welcome" Template:Webarchive, Your Cardiff, 23 August 2012
- ↑ Results : men's 200m T46 Template:Webarchive, official website
- ↑ Results: men's 100m T46 Template:Webarchive, official website
- ↑ "Sport: PNG’s Kompaon misses out on medal in 100m final" Template:Webarchive, Radio New Zealand International, 6 September 2012
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External links
- Template:IPC athlete
- "Photo: Torchbearer Francis Kompaon displays the torch", Xinhua, 6 September 2008
- "Australia's Heath Francis, facing, celebrates with Papua New Guinea's Francis Kompaon (1853) after the Men's 100m T46 final at the Beijing 2008 Paraly" [sic], Associated Press photo, 15 September 2008
- Pages with script errors
- Paralympic athletes for Papua New Guinea
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
- Paralympic silver medalists for Papua New Guinea
- Papua New Guinean male sprinters
- Living people
- Sportspeople from East New Britain Province
- 1986 births
- Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
- Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games athletes for Papua New Guinea
- Pacific Games gold medalists for Papua New Guinea
- Pacific Games medalists in athletics
- Pacific Games silver medalists for Papua New Guinea