THE NMI’s very own Orrin Pharmin went on a mission to the 2022 Oceania Athletics Championships in Mackay, Queensland, Australia and ended up winning eight medals.
On Thursday, he won the gold in the Men’s 110m Hurdles Masters and bagged the silver in the Men’s 60m Masters.
On Friday, he earned four more medals — one bronze and three silvers.
The first silver he collected was in the Masters 35 Shot Put. In his first attempt, he threw a distance of 8.01m and then greatly improved his throw in his second attempt at 8.60m. Although his third attempt came short at 7.87m, he recovered in his fourth and final attempt at 8.44m.
His second throw was recorded as his best, 8.60m, which led to his first silver medal of the day.
His second silver was claimed in the Men’s Masters 100m event where he thrived in the second heat to finish with a time of 12.52. This was followed by his third silver medal in the 400m distance with a finish time of 60.07.
He tried to keep the streak going in the Men’s Masters Javelin for which he earned a bronze medal. His first attempt reached a distance of 28.54m. He adjusted properly to improve his second attempt which was recorded at 33.81m, but his third attempt at 33.03m wasn’t an improvement.
Fortunately, his fourth and final attempt reached 35.31m which earned him a bronze medal.
On Saturday, he won the gold in the Men’s Masters High Jump, reaching a distance of 1.50m, and he bagged the silver in the Men’s Masters 200m event with a time of 25.66.
“I feel so blessed to collect medals for the CNMI and to be part of the CNMI national team for athletics,” Pharmin said. “I had a great time to finally compete after taking a break for over three years.”
The last time he competed was in 2018 for the Micro Games in Yap.
When asked what was the toughest event for him in Mackay, he answered, “I would say it is a tie between javelin and the 100m. Somehow, I couldn’t get the technique of releasing the javelin right that day, and for the 100m, our heat caught a strong headwind. We all felt it in our race that morning.”
Although Pharmin started “late” in athletics, joining competitions at the age of 22, he has honed his skills for eight years now, and is a reminder that hard work produces results.
Orrin Pharmin poses with the gold medal he won in the Men’s Masters High Jump event of the Oceania Athletics Championships in Mackay, Queensland, Australia.
