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Francis Kompaon, born 16 January 1986 in Rabaul,〔(Francis Kompaon's biography ) on the official website of the 2008 Paralympics〕 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,〔("Silver for Francis Kompaon" ), Oceania Athletics Association, 15 September 2008〕〔("Kompaon a champ on our national day" ), ''Post Courier'', 16 September 2008〕〔("Heath Francis: Triple Paralympic gold medallist" ), ''The Age'', 16 September 2008〕 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.〔("Francis' medal for PNG the start of 'something special'" ), ABC Radio Australia, 18 September 2008〕 He also competed in the 200 metre sprint, finishing ninth overall in the heats, with a time of 23.30 seconds.〔("Kompaon eyes 100m" ), ''Post Courier'', 11 September 2008〕 Kompaon was his country's flagbearer at the Games' opening ceremony,〔(Official list of flagbearers ) on the website of the International Paralympic Committee〕 and was one of fifteen competitors (out of over 4000) selected to carry the torch during the Paralympic torch relay in Beijing.〔("Sponsors bid PNG farewell" ), ''Post Courier'', 3 September 2008〕 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.〔("Preview of Island Athletes at the Paralympic Games" ), Oceania Athletics Association, 1 September 2008〕 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".〔("PNG senators 'thrilled' by Kompaon Paralympics silver" ), ABC Radio Australia, 18 September 2008〕 In direct response to Kompaon's medal, Prime Minister Michael Somare promised that the government would increase funding for disability sports.〔("Sir Michael boosts disabled sport, Kompoan (sic) gets performance bonus" ), ABC Radio Australia, 19 September 2008 〕 In 2009, Kompaon enrolled in sports management at Griffith University in Queensland. He qualified as one of two athletes to represent Papua New Guinea at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London,〔("Harabe makes London Games" ), ''The National'', 5 April 2012〕 and was again selected to be his country's flag-bearer during the Games' opening ceremony〔("Paralympic athletes praise Cardiff for warm welcome" ), ''Your Cardiff'', 23 August 2012〕 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.〔(Results : men's 200m T46 ), official website〕 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.〔(Results: men's 100m T46 ), official website〕〔("Sport: PNG’s Kompaon misses out on medal in 100m final" ), Radio New Zealand International, 6 September 2012〕 ==External links== * ("Photo: Torchbearer Francis Kompaon displays the torch" ), Xinhua, 6 September 2008 * ("Australia's Heath Francis, facing, celebrates with Papua New Guinea's Francis Kompaon (1853) after the Men's 100m T46 final at the Beijing 2008 Paraly" ) (), Associated Press photo, 15 September 2008 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Francis Kompaon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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