Papua New Guinea has joined forces with North Pacific nations in Palau this week for a pivotal regional workshop focused on strengthening athlete development and high-performance sport pathways across the Pacific.
Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee (PNGOC) Secretary General Desmond Kaviagu and Performance Officer John Tekwie represented the country at the second North Pacific High-Performance Workshop, which took place from 12 to 16 October 2026.
Delivered under the Pacific-Aus Sports Brisbane 2032 Games Pathways Program, the five-day workshop brought together leaders from 10 National Olympic Committees (NOCs). They partnered alongside key regional and global governing bodies, including:
- The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC)
- The International Olympic Committee (IOC)
- Oceania Sport and the Oceania Paralympic Committee
- The Pacific Games Council
- Various regional sport federations
The workshop directly builds on a foundational framework developed during a previous regional meeting in Palau in March. Throughout the week, participants focused heavily on turning that framework into practical, high-impact action.
Key strategic sessions included reviewing national athletic performances at the recent Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, benchmarking regional athlete readiness, and mapping out precise development pathways toward major upcoming international events:
- 2027 Pacific Games in Tahiti
- Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games
- Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games
A primary outcome of the workshop is the creation of a fully costed and resourced national action plan for each participating country. These plans will outline immediate priorities and concrete steps to reinforce domestic high-performance systems.
For Papua New Guinea, this workshop provides a crucial opportunity to establish a highly coordinated approach to elite athlete preparation, sports science support, and long-term planning. The PNGOC’s participation will directly shape the strategic framework required to ensure Team PNG athletes have the world-class pathways and institutional support necessary to podium at the highest levels of global sport.