Papua New Guinea showed impressive endurance to claim another haul of medals on the track at the Samoa 2019 XVI Pacific Games on Tuesday, snatching all three places on the podium in the men’s 10,000 metres and winning a further three medals across the women’s and men’s 800 metres.

In front of a packed house at Apia Park Stadium, PNG secured all three gongs in the men’s 10,000m by a large margin, but less than five seconds separated their gold, silver and bronze athletes – Simbai Kaspar, Siune Kagi and James Gundu.

Australia had a successful first day at taekwondo, winning five of the six men's events at Samoa 2019 XVI Pacific Games.

The stand out match of the day was Alan Salek’s gold medal fight against the hometown favourite Kaino Thomsen. Thomsen took an early lead in the fight and remained out in front by a few points for the majority of the match, much to the delight of the roaring crowd.

The fastest man in the Pacific will be crowned later today, with medals up for grabs in five sports at the Pacific Games in Apia.

New Caledonia continue to lead the medals table from host nation Samoa, while a strong showing on the track lifted Papua New Guinea into fifth overall.

Papua New Guinea’s Karo Iga, the pole vault silver medalist at the Port Moresby 2015 XV Pacific Games, made his debut in the men’s decathlon on Monday at Samoa 2019, where neither rain nor clouds could dampen the mood of the afternoon.
The decathlon got underway at Apia Park Stadium with the 100m sprint followed by long jump, shot put, high jump and the 400m under the shadow of the Pacific Games torch blazing through the gloomy sky.
Iga, whose forte is the pole vault, one of the five remaining events of the men’s decathlon, currently sits at second place on the results table in his bid for a medal.

Wallis and Futuna's Felise Vahai Sosaia claimed a memorable gold medal in athletics at the Samoa 2019 XVI Pacific Games on Monday night as he topped the podium in men’s javelin.
Despite throwing four out of six foul throws at Apia Park Stadium, Vahai Sosaia’s two successful throws were comfortably the furthest of the session and he secured gold with a best effort of 62.41 metres.
Samoa’s Laurence Faapoi Tasi came second throwing 53.53m, and Papua New Guinea’s Lakona Gerega collected bronze, throwing 52.72m.

Papua New Guinea eclipsed host Samoa, 75-63, to complete the Final Four cast of the 2019 Pacific Games men’s basketball event.

Lloyd Wright scored 23 points, four rebounds, and three steals while Marty Leahy added 21 markers, five boards, two steals, and two blocks to lead the way for PNG which had a hard time shrugging off the gritty home squad before banking on a strong fourth quarter finish.

Samoa has surged into second place on the Pacific Games medal table after winning nine gold medals on Friday.

The host nation doubled their overall haul to 18 in five days, but it's still New Caledonia who continue to lead the way in Apia.
Weightlifters Don Opeloge and Leotina Petelo won three gold medals apiece on home soil, while also making a clean sweep of the Oceania and Commonwealth titles.

Four years ago, a quartet of PNG sisters and nieces made tennis headlines at the Port Moresby 2015 XV Pacific Games as they contested the women’s doubles final against each other.

Since then, much has changed for sisters Abigail and Marcia Tere-Apisah, whose international tennis careers have skyrocketed as they fly the PNG flag in a sport in which Pacific islanders have traditionally enjoyed limited success.

A Fijian sporting couple will be returning home with three medals between them after a successful Samoan 2019 XVI Pacific Games.

Lisa Leota and her husband Samoa-born Fred Tamavua Leota won two of the three gold medals up for grabs in the morning session on day 5 of the event at Faleata Sports Complex.

Lisa Leota had to settle for a silver in the women’s compound 50 meters, as New Caledonia's Cecile Picot, got gold.

Papua New Guinea’s men’s volleyball team have extra motivation at the Samoa 2019 XVI Pacific Games, following the unexpected passing of their captain Ravuiwa Mahuru Rau just days before the event.

In Thursday’s opening clash at the National University of Samoa Gym, they began their tournament on a winning note, defeating Kiribati in four sets (25-10, 23-25, 25-10, 25-15). Despite a second set blip, PNG looked strong, roared on by full stands of lively PNG fans and a wonderous atmosphere.