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Pais Wisil Smashes 30-Year-Old PNG 100m Record with 10.24s Run
Pais Wisil has shattered Peter Pulu’s 30-year-old national record of 10.40 seconds in the 100m sprint, clocking an impressive 10.24 seconds in Brisbane during the Queensland State Titles on Saturday.
With one eye on next weekend’s World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, Coach Tony Fairweather opted to enter Wisil in the B division of the 100m against Rohan Browning, a top Australian sprinter who recently recovered from injury. This strategic decision allowed Wisil to get a quality race without having to run heats and semi-finals first. Wisil exploded out of the blocks and led the race for 60 to 70 meters before being overtaken by Browning, who finished in 10.12 seconds.
“It was just the confidence boost that Pais needed heading to Nanjing,” said Athletics PNG President Tony Green. “This is not just a new national record,” he added, “but a very significant performance that ranks among the top 10 performances ever by Pacific Island athletes.”
The World Athletics scoring tables, developed by statisticians, provide a recognized way of comparing performances across different events by assigning points. Wisil’s 10.24-second run is equivalent to a 400m time of 45.80 seconds and is worth 1125 points—making it the highest-ranking performance among all PNG men’s national records. It surpasses the previous top-ranked record held by Mowen Boino, whose 400m hurdles time of 50.37 seconds was worth 1112 points. Notably, former sprint king Banuve Tabacaucoro of Fiji had a personal best of 10.20 seconds in the 100m, while Samoa’s Jeremy Dodson recorded 10.21 seconds.
The performance did not come as a surprise to Coach Tony Fairweather, who attributes Wisil’s success to his dedication and hard work. “Pais does everything I expect from him,” he said. Wisil had come close to breaking the record in Canberra two weeks ago, but his 10.32-second run was wind-assisted (+2.4 mps) and thus ineligible for record status.
President Green personally congratulated Wisil on his outstanding performance in a phone call immediately following the race and wished him the best for the World Indoor Championships next week. Wisil will travel to Nanjing on Tuesday alongside other Pacific Island athletes. His 6.61-second clocking for the 60m would have qualified him outright for the championships, but he had already been entered via a quota place, which is why his name does not appear in the official list of qualifiers.
