About 300 athletes from Oceania region including Australia and New Zealand are now staying in the designated “Athletes’ Village” in Chalan Kanoa Beach Hotel, Aquarius Beach Tower Hotel in Chalan Kanoa and Summer Holiday Hotel in Garapan.
Mullins in an interview said the athletes are enjoying a lot from the kind of hospitality they are getting from the local people.
She said they feel comfortable in their hotels and are so happy with meals consisting of local food. She just hopes the athletes won’t gain weight due to abundance of food.
However, athletes particularly those from New Zealand are trying to cope with warm weather but most of the time, the comment she hears from them was “It’s beautiful here!”
Since the “Athlete’s Villages” are in the beach front, almost all the visiting athletes take time on the beach.
The last batch of athletes, Mullins said are scheduled to arrive last night
Athletes from Tonga, Solomon and the rest of the Fiji and Tuvalu were set to arrive at 7 last night. It’s Tuvalu athletes first time to see NMI and first time the island to officially participate in the Oceania Championship since it became official member of the OAA. Tuvalu was an associate member before.
Athletes from Nauru were expected to have arrived in the afternoon yesterday.
Meanwhile, Mullins disclosed that there may be “significant changes” in the Oceania Championship in 2010. She did not detail it out but it will be one of the agenda in today’s meeting at the Hyatt Regency.
