Olympic Torch Relay Papua New Guineans have pride in putting on the best when it comes to hosting an international event. It was the greatest legacy accorded to the Oceania region by the Howard Government by underwriting the total external cost of the Olympic Torch Relay through the region's 13 National Olympic Committees before reaching the host country - Australia. This gave us the golden opportunity to showcase PNG's diversity. The year also brought a great deal of healthy debate towards representation of athletes in international competition. This is of course great news for Papua New Guinea because now we are actually seeing people taking an interest in how our sportsmen and women perform on the national and international scene.
Constructive criticism provides healthy platform for men and women to develop to higher levels.
And despite the fact that it did dampen the spirit of our sport people, we survived and the will to succeed grew stronger. They were not disgraced by any means of the imagination because they were competitive on the day. The pride of belonging to something special spurred this special group of young athletes to work harder to get to where they are now. They are young and their experience in Sydney has motivated them to start preparing now for the next Olympic Games in Athens 2004. The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part.