Charlie Carr, in her second international competition, represented Norfolk Island at the Melanesian Athletics Championships in Port Vila, Vanuatu last week. After mixed results at the Oceania Championships in Fiji in 2017, Charlie was keen to improve on her personal best performances in both the Girls Under 18 High Jump and the 200 metres.

 

Charlie tackled the High Jump on Thursday afternoon and returned to the track for the 200 metres on Friday afternoon. Rose Evans accompanied Charlie to the Championships and they were lodged  at the Athletes village in the very comfortable environment of the Port Vila Holiday Inn.

 

The Championship Opening Ceremony, televised live in Vanuatu, was attended by the Vanuatu Minister for Sport and the President of the Vanuatu National Olympic Committee. Following the athlete procession (in which Charlie carried the Norfolk Island flag) into Korman stadium, the site of the athletics competition for the recent Pacific Games in December 2017, the formal welcomes and opening took place with Norfolk Islands own Geoff Gardner participating in his official capacity as President of the Oceania Athletics Association and Council Member of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

 

The Melanesian Championships is one of three Oceania Regional Championships that will be conducted in 2018, the other two being the Micronesian Championships that will be held in Saipan in June and the Polynesian Championships in Samoa in October.

 

The Melanesian Championships this year also served as the Oceania qualification event for the Youth Olympic Games that are due to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October and athletes from the other Oceania Member Federations, with National Olympic Committees , joined their fellow Melanesian competitors in Port Vila during the week in their attempts to meet qualifying standards.

 

Although not eligible to attend the Youth Olympic Games Charlie performed to her best in both of her chosen events setting a  personal best height in the high jump to place 4th and then going on to a new personal best time in the 200 metres.