Sharon Firisua, the distance runner who earned Solomon Islands’ lone spot in the women’s 100-metre race at the Olympics in Paris, came in last in the race with a personal best time of 14.31 seconds.
The athlete looked like a sprinter preparing at the starting blocks. But when the gun went off, she was a marathoner trying to sprint. Firisua quickly navigated her way through the media after the race without even making eye contact with any reporters.
She has gone to the Olympics three times, and this is her first time as a sprinter. She competed in the marathon in Tokyo in 2021 and the 5,000 metres in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Actual sprinters not given the chance to compete
The Olympic authorities of the Solomon Islands gave Firisua a wild-card spot even though she did not initially qualify for the Paris Olympics. Usually, these are reserved for small countries to provide their athletes an opportunity to participate at the highest levels, even if they don’t match the qualifying requirements.
The officials stated that the 100-metre event was the only race with a spot. Apparently, Firisua did not have a record time in the division, but she did have one in every distance from the 1,500-metre to the marathon.
In the end, Firisua’s 100-metre mark was 3.37 seconds slower than the time that world champion Sha’Carri Richardson achieved in a preliminary heat.
There was debate about Firisua’s selection. The top sprinter of the nation, Jovita Arunia, was not awarded this slot because she did not qualify for the competition.
Arunia said, “We’re the (actual) sprinters. I don’t know what went wrong; it’s unbelievable… I will not compete anymore because of what they did.”
Source: AP News