While an equalling of his Papua New Guinea (PNG) national 60m sprint record (6.66 secs) at the recent World Indoor Track Championships in Poland wasn’t enough to see Pacific speedster, Pais Wisil progress beyond qualifying, the gifted athlete is advancing well in pursuit of global success.

The 25-year-old is gearing up for his next big challenge; the 100-metre sprint at the Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney from 9–12 April. A strong performance at this event will set the Gold Coast-based sprinter well for the Oceania Championships, which will take place in Darwin for the first time, from 18–24 May at Arufura Stadium.

Wisil will be fiercely focussed on the blue ribband sprint event, where he can test his mettle against the likes of Australia’s best, including World Indoor silver medallist Lachie Kennedy.

“Poland was the longest flight I have ever had and it taught me some valuable lessons around travelling, particularly to always wear a mask and be mindful of touching surfaces to ensure you’re in the best possible shape come race time,” confirmed Wisil.

“I learn something each time I race, but I think a big thing is seeing how close I can be to some of the best athletes. That motivates me to keep working hard and looking for the little improvements.  The more I line up against them, I know that eventually I will belong there.

“My major goals right now are to record PBs and feature in finals.

“I was offered a lane in the 100m at the Maurie Plant Gold meet in Melbourne last weekend which is a huge honour but had to decline due to a lack of funds so we are working on ensuring that doesn’t happen again.

“The experience I gain at racing that level is invaluable and is not offered often, so I’m gutted we couldn’t arrange it.”

It was only a year ago that Wisil exploded out of the blocks to set a new PNG National Record in the 100m, with a time of 10.24 seconds during the Queensland Championships.

Finishing sixth at the 2024 Oceania Championships as the highest placed Pacific athlete, and since then having become the number one ranked PNG athlete in World Athletics rankings across 100 metres, Wisil will use the experience as the perfect lead in, to another major international assignment scheduled for later in the year.

“As an athlete I set short- and long-term goals and competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow later in the year, will give me experience against truly elite international athletes over 100m,” added Wisil

“It will be tough, but I need to learn to race these guys so I can keep improving.”

Wisil’s coach, Tony Fairweather knows only too well there’s plenty of work to be done over coming months to make that a reality.

“Pais needs to ensure that his World rankings are high enough for PNG to nominate him, which we have already worked very hard to set in place,” confirmed Fairweather.

“We are always working to ensure he is in his best shape, and for him that means National Records. It’s exciting to see all the PNG athletes lifting their standards and I am proud that Pais is leading the way.”

Darwin’s inaugural hosting of the Oceania Championships (18-24 May) will see 20 Oceanic member-countries competing, three affiliates, plus additional representation by a number of South-East Asian countries. It will be the eighth time Australia has hosted the Championships since inception in 1990.

“Pais has already been showing exceptional consistency in his racing this year and when you do that, even better results are just around the corner,” added Fairweather.

“It’s frustrating that he fell sick in Poland and I am sure that affected him.

“Unfortunately travelling and being in close contact with others who may have been sick, puts you at risk.

“He is right in the pocket of where we want him from a performance perspective.  Putting together a complete race has not yet happened and that is part of development.  He has executed components of his races really well, and it’s like putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

“The focus at the Oceania Champs will definitely be to be competing in the final and challenge for a medal. It won’t be easy as there will be some seriously fast athletes there, but if he is in the mix, a PB will happen.

“We have been working on the 100m prep all along but with particular focus on acceleration.  Pais is a power-based athlete so we work on his strengths and improving his weaknesses.”