Tierney excited for the athletes

Moments after the athletes paraded their colors in front of a welcoming crowd at the Oleai Track and Field Facility, the president of Oceania Athletics Association, Anne Tierney, took some time to reflect her thoughts about coming to Saipan for the 2nd Micronesian Athletics Championships.

“It’s pretty neat, though I haven’t seen a lot since I’ve been in meetings all day. It’s kind of a familiar feel because all but four of our 19 members are smaller island nations, so this is a nice feeling of similarity. We also know lots of your cultures and athletes who have been on the scene for lots of years, and it’s nice to see them in their home country,” she said.

Tierney said that the event will give the competitors from Palau, Nauru, the Marshal Islands, Kiribati, Guam, and the CNMI the opportunity to put their hours of training to the test against some of the finest athletes in the Pacific region.

“I guess you could call it sort of a test event in the sense that the athletes might know what their standing is in their own country, but to come to something like this where you’re competing against athletes from six other countries, you can’t take anything for granted,” she said.

The OAA president said that events such as this are as important to the athletes’ progress as it is exciting to be a part of.

“Even if you had the best time and you think it’s better than everybody else’s, it’s what you do on the day that counts. That’s why for the athlete it’s really exciting. It’s really challenging too because in every event you have to concentrate to do your best right at that time because if you don’t get the results when it matters, then you’re going to be disappointed,” said Tierney.

Tierney speaks with more than just the voice of an OAA executive, as she knows first hand the thrill of competition from her days as a leaper and sprinter. While she says those days are long gone, Tierney said that she will never forget the feeling of striving for excellence on the big stage.

“I think that a good athlete really has to love competition. It’s where you get the rush from which your best performances will come. Most athletes love to compete and so they really look forward to the chance to prove themselves, and often the combination of all of those things—the excitement of actually getting here at last after the training—might actually lift the athlete past what they think they can do. That’s a really exciting time for an athlete,” she said.

Tierney said that there are a number of far reaching benefits that a person could take away from their career as an athlete aside from the excitement, such as learning how to work toward a goal and achieving it—things that the athletes will keep with them all of their lives.

“It does so many things. I think for an individual athlete it has many advantages on a personal level such as fitness and the company of people who are like thinkers in the sense that they have something they want to try to achieve,” she said.

More than the opportunity to compete in a major event, Tierney said that she thinks that the athletes benefit from the addition of national pride when doing so on behalf of one’s country.

“I think to be a representative of a country is an almost indescribable feeling. There’s something very uplifting about marching behind the flag—like destiny. And going to an international meet and marching behind your flag here is really quite powerful feeling,” she said.