by Papua New Guinea (PNG) Olympic martial art exponents slipped quietly into country yesterday from the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Judo’s Raymond Ovinou and Taekwondo’s Theresa Tona returned with 7 members of their contingent including their coaches and our very own PNG warrior, Andrew Molen, who was also the team’s official photographer.
Ovinou said in The National that he had learned a valuable lesson during his first Olympic experience.
I have got a lot from this experience and I hope to do better in the other international tournaments.
Meanwhile, Tona’s coach, Andy Rutten, said the Taekwondo export had potential but needed more experience. According to the Post Courier, Rutten said that Tona had to change her techniques because changes in the system.
Theresa had changed her techniques because of the newly introduced electronic body protectors – a new modern style of fighting.
The Olympians’ coaches, John Jambert for Judo and Rutten for Taekwondo, said they needed adequate funding to achieve better results in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. However, they are ready to set new records in the 2015 Pacific Games which will be held in the country.
Both Tona and Ovinou will now have four years to prepare for Rio.
