Interview: Mary Estelle Kapalu

Interview with an Olympian

Name: Mary. Estelle. Kapalu
Vanuatu. P.R. P.N.G.( Permanant Resident, Papau, New Guinea)
Papau, New Guinea Olympic Team
Track and Field(400 Flat and 400 Hurdles)

1. How does it make you feel to be on the 1996 Olympic Team for your country?

"For me it is a great privilege and opportunity to go to the Olympics"....."I am not coming here expecting to win, but I hope to gain experience from the games".

2. When you were a kid did you ever expect to be where you are today? Did you have goals to participate in the Olympics or to even have a career in sports?

"Yes, I wanted to do sports but to play in the Olympic Games was something I wasn't expecting"....."It was a good thing to have come this far, representing my country."

3. How old were you when you started competing in track and field events? How did you get started?

"Seven"....."I was coming into school."

4. Does it seem confusing or unfair that the Olympics are done in the northern hemisphere's time, so that you compete during your winter in the Summer Olympics this year? And do you know if the Sydney 2000 Olympics will be held in the Northern Hemisphere's summer or that of the Southern Hemisphere?

"We don't have winter or summer seasons, only Rainy and Dry."

5. How long have you been training in the U.S.?

"Only four days."

6. After the Olympics are over, are you planning to do any sight-seeing or staying in America for a while before heading home?

"I am going back home"....."I have two kids back home that are six and eight, I am going straight back."

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Interview conducted on June 12,1996 by Kari Zander
Page designed by Kari Zander
Ligon GT Middle School, 706 East Lenoir St.
Raleigh, North Carolina, 27601