Papua New Guinea's Rellie Kaputin warmed up for the Pacific Games with a starring performance at the Oceania Athletics Championships, which wrapped in Townsville on Friday.
The 26-year-old won gold in the women's long jump with a personal best leap of 6.50m to pip Australia's Brooke Stratton by a solitary centimetre.
Papua New Guinea's Rellie Kaputin competing at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Photo: AFP
Kaputin also won gold in the women's triple jump with a best effort of 13.04m, proving she is in prime condition heading into the Pacific Games in Samoa, where she will be defending the long jump, high jump and triple jump titles later this month.
Samoan sprinter Jeremy Dodson was the Pacific's only other gold medallist in Northern Queensland after winning the men's 200m in 21.11 seconds, pipping Fiji's two-time Oceania champion Banuve Tabakaucoro by four hundredths of a second.
![Samoa's Jeremy Dodson [R] in the 200m heats at the Rio Olympics.](https://media.rnztools.nz/rnz/image/upload/s--tRTs5hif--/c_scale,f_auto,q_auto,w_1050/v1643533012/4ORM1BM_copyright_image_78269?_a=BACCd2AD)
Samoa's Jeremy Dodson [R] in the 200m heats at the Rio Olympics. Photo: AFP
The 26-year-old Tabakaucoro, who last competed at a major event in 2015, topped the men's 100m in heats but was disqualified in the final with New Zealand's Edward Osei-Nketia claiming gold. Kelvin Masoe from Samoa was fifth in 10.69, with Dodson seventh.
New Zealand's Zoe Hobbs won the women's 100m in 11.81, with Papua New Guinea's Pacific sprint queen Toea Wisil forced to settle for fourth place in 11.99 after failing to better her time from the heats.
PNG also finished second in the men's 4x100m and 4x400m relay events, third in the equivalent women's relays, while Siune Kagl was third in the men's 10,000m, Daniel Baul was third in the men's 400m hurdles and Peniel Richard third in the men's triple jump.
Tonga's Atamaama Tu'utafaiva won a bronze medal in the senior women's shot put while Papua New Guinea also had success in the men's para events, with Elias Larry third in men's 100m and Steven Abraham third in 200m and second in the 400m.
Fiji's Inosi Bulimairewa won a silver medal in the men's para javelin.
