Pharmin earns silver in octathlon

Pharmin

Afternoon showers blessed the Oleai track & field right before Day 2 of the athletics event of the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022 yesterday.

The rain proved to be a good omen for Team NMI’s Orrin Pharmin as the veteran athlete bagged the silver in the octathlon behind Papua New Guinea’s Karo Iga.

Initially, there were three participants in the exhaustive event, but another athlete from PNG pulled out after injuring his leg. That left Iga and Pharmin to duke it out in the battle of
ironmen.

The octathlon was a grueling feat of physical and mental endurance, with eight track and field events that included the 100m sprint, long jump, shot put, 400m sprint, 110m hurdles, high jump, javelin, and finally, the 1,000m sprint.

After being awarded the silver medal, Pharmin said after the exhausting two-day and eight-event run, that it was a “wonderful experience. I was able to share the track with many of my brothers and sisters from the different islands. And I’m really happy that we’re hosting it here. I was just fighting because it’s a long two-day event. I’m just really honored to represent our people of the CNMI.”

He added he could really feel his legs hurting after his final run.

“This was actually a long journey. I started since last year after taking off for more than three years. My body wasn’t ready. I was going through injuries in the beginning of my offseason, during the conditioning phase, but somehow thank God for the blessings for helping me pull through with everything through this whole journey. I’m so happy that I’m finally done training for the Mini Games. I’m really happy that everything went well and accordingly,” the silver medalist said.

Over in the 10,000m run which is an exhausting six-mile trek, or 25 laps around the track, the NMI’s Tania Tan looked good as she led her competitors from the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and New Caledonia around the track.

Halfway through though, she started lagging behind in third place and with only three laps left, the Fordham University track varsity collapsed as the strain of the endurance sport got to her.

Medics and officials came onto the track to check on her and was wheeled into the ambulance on standby while the audience cheered her on in support. She was seen out of the ambulance hugging her coach about 30 minutes after.

She told Saipan Tribune afterwards that in the first half of her run, “I felt pretty strong. It wasn’t as hot. So, I felt okay but once the sun started to come out, I think I just overheated. And I’ve been spending a lot of time watching tennis and tennis is like an all-day thing, so I was all day in the sun. I think that played a big part in how I felt toward the end of the race, I fainted, kind of.”
Tan added that she came in prepared for the race which left her disappointed “especially being back on Saipan.”

Today is Day 3 of athletics with Team NMI out to compete in more track and field events and more chances for medals.