Nauru President Adeang and Cook Islands Prime Minister Brown Rally Behind Teams in Honiara
The President of Nauru, David Adeang, and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown are in Honiara for the Pacific Games, showing their support for their respective teams. Adeang, a former athlete in powerlifting, is backing Team Nauru in their quest for gold medals in various competitions. Accompanied by the Nauru Speaker of Parliament, Marcus Stephen, and the President of the Nauru Olympic Committee, Sean Oppenheimer, he observed Nauru’s boxing bouts in the 60kg, 67kg, and 75kg divisions on Monday. The powerlifting competition, in which Adeang has a personal history commenced today, Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, a dedicated supporter of touch rugby, has been enthusiastically cheering for his team at DC Park since the competitions began on Monday. Brown also had the privilege of presenting medals at the Vaka competition held at the Iumi Water Sports Park where Cook Islands won two bronze medals.
Cook Islands Prime Minister, Mark Brown pose for a selfie with the Cook Islands Women Team who won bronze medal in the V6 500m Competition (Picture from Mark Brown Facebook Page)
The leaders, who recently convened at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting hosted by the Cook Islands, are seen enjoying their time with their athletes in Honiara. Adeang and his delegation made regional headlines when they left the forum abruptly following questions about the appointment of the former Nauru President Baron Waqa to take over in 2024 as the next Secretary General for the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
Putting politics aside, both leaders are actively participating in the Pacific Games cheering their athletes on. As of the last medal tally, Cook Islands boasts five gold medals while Nauru has one gold medal.
It is anticipated that the Papua New Guinea Deputy Prime Minister, John Rosso and his delegation is next to arrive in Honiara this week for the Pacific Games. The official closing ceremony for the Games will be this Saturday 2 December 2023.
