Papua New Guinean elite athlete Donna Koniel has been awarded a scholarship by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) and will leave for the Gold Coast this month to train.
Papua New Guinea Athletics Union (PNGAU) President Tony Green acknowledged the timely support as the nation prepares for the 2015 Pacific Games. Rising star Donna Koniel will be based on the Gold Coast in Australia for nine months.
Koniel, a specialist in the 400m hurdles, has been awarded a scholarship in the lead up to the 2015 Pacific Games. Donna recently took part in the 6th PNG games in Lae, competing in the 800m race and clocking a time of 2:16 seconds in the final. In the 400m flat, she ran 58.36 seconds and in the 400m hurdles final, she clocked in at 1:02 seconds.
She came first in all her track events. Koniel will be staying at the Oceania High Performance Training Centre and will be coached by Glynis Nunn-Cearns, former Australian Olympic heptathlete.
She will be training alongside fellow elite athlete, Betty Burua, Australia’s under-18 champion Alina Tate and Australia’s 400m champion, Alex Beck.
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