Chuuk’s champ

By Barbara Ray

THE Chuukese women were making news in more than one sport at the games. Twelve-year-old Aniwika Sakkan, a barefoot long-distance runner, charmed the crowd with her shy smile and refreshing innocence. Her first time away from her remote island home, she found her own on the track.

As other teams jogged along the track in expensive gear, stretching and sipping Gatorade, young Sakkan looked to her coach for instruction. “Run a little bit,” he yelled to her in Chuukese. Giggling, dressed in a simple uniform of shorts and tank, she ran a short length and back.

And then the race was to begin. Running over to her coach, she whispered some thing in his ear. He whispered back some instructions and she was off for the 1500-metre run. Asked later what she had said, coach Akapito replied, “she asked me how many times around she had to run.”

“These girls,” he said, “have never run in a competition of this level before. At home, we have only one lane.” Sakkan ran the race barefoot. “The girls are mostly from the remote islands where sneakers are just now beginning to be seen in the schools. The Nike craze has definitely not hit Chuuk,” he laughed.

12-year-old gives it

her best shot with a

run promising talent

He also explained that with only a one-lane track, running barefoot saves on a lot of injuries. “The girls are running pretty tight together around the turns, bumping into each other, and shoes would only make it worse.”

Sakkan ran a valiant race, keeping pace with the third-place runner for the entire race. In a spurt of energy toward the end, Sakkan momentarily overtook her opponent. At the finish line, however, Sakkan trailed by inches to miss the bronze by seconds. Speaking through a translator, Sakkan acknowledged that this competition had only heightened her love for the sport. She plans to attend high school on Guam next year, where hopefully she can perfect her already promising talents. □

Barbara Ray

Set to go: Aniwika Sakkan before the race