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Francis Kompaon
Francis Kompaon (born 16 January 1986 in Rabaul[1]) is a T46 Papua New Guinean athlete. He represented Papua New Guinea at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, competing in athletics in the one hundred metre sprint, T46 category. With a time of 11.10 seconds, he finished second in the final, five hundredths of a second behind Australia's Heath Francis. It was Papua New Guinea's first ever Olympic or Paralympic medal,[2][3][4] and only the second ever Olympic or Paralympic medal won by a Pacific Islander; Tongan boxer Paea Wolfgramm had won a silver at the 1996 Olympics.[5] He also competed in the 200-metre sprint, finishing ninth overall in the heats, with a time of 23.30 seconds.[6] Kompaon was his country's flagbearer at the Games' opening ceremony,[7] and was one of fifteen competitors (out of over 4000) selected to carry the torch during the Paralympic torch relay in Beijing.[8] He had previously won several gold medals at regional competitions in Oceania, and had finished fourth in the 200m sprint for élite athletes with disabilities at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.[9] Papua New Guinea's sports minister Dame Carol Kidu said that Kompaon's Paralympic medal had "raised the issue of disability in Papua New Guinea to a level that it has never been".[10] In direct response to Kompaon's medal, Prime Minister Michael Somare promised that the government would increase funding for disability sports.[11] In 2009, Kompaon enrolled in sports management at Griffith University in Queensland.[12] He qualified as one of two athletes to represent Papua New Guinea at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London,[13] and was again selected to be his country's flag-bearer during the Games' opening ceremony[14] competed in the men's 100m and 200m T46 (the category for upper limb amputees). In the 200m, he finished sixth (of eight) in his heat, with a new personal best of 23.05, and did not advance to the final.[15] In his main event, the 100m, he finished third (of seven) in heat 2, qualifying for the final as the fastest loser overall with a personal best time of 11.21 (fifth fastest overall over the three heats). In the final, however, he was unable to repeat his Beijing performance; he "injured his hamstring near the finish line" and finished seventh (of eight) in 12.28.[16][17] References
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