Guided by the experienced hand of renowned Gold Coast athletics coach Tony Fairweather, Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) sporting superstar, Pais Wisil boasts renewed confidence and clear direction leading into this weekend’s 60m event at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland.

Wisil secured gold medals as the reigning Queensland and Australian 60m short course champion and more recently claimed silver in Canberra, at the ACT 60m Short Course Championships.

Since coming under Fairweather’s mentorship in early 2024, Wisil continues to achieve personal milestones out on the track and will be keen to maintain momentum, leading into this year’s much-anticipated 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“This season I’ve been proud of my consistent performances.  This shows I’m in very good form and ready for another breakthrough,” confirmed Wisil.   

“Last season was a roller-coaster of good and not so good. But I achieved a lot and to finish the year as the highest ranked PNG athlete was an honour. But I want to keep improving and be competitive on the world stage, so that motivates me every day.

“Being in Tony and Alison’s squad gives me a lot of support. They’ve built a team around me; training partners, support staff and my second family. I thank God every day for having them in my life.

A regular 100m sprinter, Wisil set a new PNG national record across the distance with a blistering 10.24 seconds at the Queensland Championships in March 2025.

Earlier, he also established a new national outdoor 60m benchmark, before bettering that mark with a time of 6.64 seconds at the ACT Championships a month later. Wisil’s momentum continued at the 2025 World Indoor Championships in China, where he became the first Pacific Islander to reach a World Championship track semi-final. During the same meet in March, he set a new PNG indoor national record for the 60m, clocking 6.66 seconds.

In October 2025, Wisil clinched a silver medal in the 100m at the Oceania Cup in Tonga with a time of 10.60 seconds, providing a strong platform heading into the 2026 season.

“Pais is a very coachable athlete.  He doesn’t miss training, it is his number one focus,” confirmed Fairweather.

“We have good communication and talk about everything. Feedback goes both ways and that works well as Pais takes ownership with me.

 “He is such a popular squad member as he genuinely loves to see everyone doing well and he is so supportive. Pais is very humble and very kind.  He is so grateful to those who have supported him and he never forgets his roots.”

Fairweather agrees Pais is rapidly following in the footsteps of his celebrated sister, Toea Wisil, the iconic Pacific Sprint Queen, who was a part of his Australian-based team during the peak of her athletics career.

Toea captured the 2017 Australian National Title, becoming the first Pacific Island woman to achieve a 100m ‘A’ standard qualifying time, which qualified her for the 2016 Rio Olympics, and set new 200m records for both the Pacific and Papua New Guinea during that time.

“Toea brought me to them because she knew how they supported her and from the first day, I knew it was the right place, added Wisil.

“I thank Toea, and Kupun for showing me that a person from the Highlands could follow their dreams in sport. When Toea qualified for the 2016 Olympics, I started to believe I could do it too. 

“It has not been easy but with my goals and my faith, I stay focussed and know that it will all be okay.”

While Pais has set his sights on a range of goals for the coming year and beyond, he understands dedication and sustained effort will be required, to enable him to achieve them. 

Following this weekend’s World Indoors, it’s back to Sydney for the Australian Championships next month, then Oceania Championships in Darwin, May 18-22.

“There are some parallels with Toea, but Pais is quite shy,” added Fairweather.  

“The next goal is to lower the 60m and 100m national records. We have worked on his biomechanics and there has been a marked improvement. Testing has shown we are on track and we have our eyes on the big picture.

“The squad I have is a mix of Australian and island athletes and from junior to senior ages. They all support each other and keep training sessions competitive and motivating.”