Chiharu Sato sweeps women’s 50 age group

Sato

The CNMI’s masters athletes did exceptionally well during their stint in the 2023 Oceania Athletics Masters Championships from June 22 to 26 at the Oleai Sports Complex.

One standout was Chiharu Sato who swept all the events she participated in the women’s 50 division.

She sprinted into a gold medal in the 60m race with a time of 10.32 seconds; Jessica Ortizo claimed silver with a time of 11.26 seconds; and bronze went to Lainie Price at 11.85 seconds.

Sato took gold again in the 100m with 17.25 seconds and silver went to Ortizo with a time of 17.25 seconds.

In the 200m, Sato was golden again with a time of 35.88 seconds. Ortizo was silver with a time of 40.69 seconds.

Sato was the lone runner in the 800m with 3:31.82 and was also the lone participant in the long jump event and recorded a distance of 2.92m.

In the other women’s masters events, the CNMI’s Maria Ornes won gold in the women’s 55-59 year-old age group with a throw of 6.40m; silver went to Australia’s Helen Roberts at 6.04m; and bronze went to Australia’s Alison Fairweather at 5.26m.

Ornes also won gold in the discus throw with a distance of 23.71m and silver went to Roberts again with a 18.41m throw.

The CNMI’s Rhonda Gross won silver in the 200m 40-44 year-old age group with a time of 37.66 seconds and bronze went to Sheila Isla at 42.57 seconds.

Gross also won silver in the long jump event with a distance of 3.12m behind Australia’s Cassie Neubauer’s 3.83m jump.

In the women’s 45-49 age group, the CNMI’s Marcia Calvo won gold in the 100m with a time of 22.86 seconds and also won gold in the 200m at 48.30 seconds.

The CNMI’s Natalie Hill-Beyer won silver with a time of 10.25 seconds in the women’s 40-44 60m race. First place went to Australia’s Neubauer at 9.67 seconds and bronze went to the CNMI’s Sheila Isla at 11.82 seconds.

Isla also won gold in the 800m with a time of 3:51.64 and gold in the 5,000m at 32:04.70.

The 52-year-old Sato said her experience in the championships was great. “It was a great experience for me to be able to engage and compete with athletes from other countries at a high level in various events”, she said. “I really enjoyed having the chance to compete in various events which I haven’t tried before in my life. There were many events offered in the master’s division which gave me the chance to try out new things thanks to this event. It was also a great opportunity to be able to compete with people from various countries as it is an unusual and rare experience to be able to take part and participate in an event full of diverse people.”

When asked what her favorite event was, she said it was the 100m race. “I wanted to see how my time was compared to when I was in high school and I am glad to say that my time was not different as much, so my goal is to overtake my time from high school the next time.”

About the competition going up against fellow teammates, Australia, islands from Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, she said “I went against athletes from Australia and Papua New Guinea in the long jump. [The] long jump was a new event for me which I never tried before since it is barely held on Saipan, so I couldn’t do so well, but I was amazed watching the athlete from Australia jump, and it made me want to practice jumping like other athletes. I hope I have more chances to go against athletes from various countries in future years.” 

As an older athlete competing on the big stage, she said “Seeing other older athletes from different countries inspired me that I could still be an athlete and that age does not matter to compete and work as I want to. So, I also hope I could inspire other people as well that no one is ever too old to work out and do sports.”

She then thanked people that supported her in the competition, the competitors, her team, and her husband, Kosuke, who also competed in the event and trained with her everyday. She also thanked the coordinators of the events who inspired her to challenge herself more as an athlete.