PACIFIC Mini Games 200m champion Timothy Tuna will be representing Papua New Guinea at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan in September.

Tuna will make his first appearance at the world meet following outstanding performances this year while studying in the United States and the recent Pacific Mini Games in Palau.

A product of the National Sports Institute (NSI) Athlete development programme, Tuna first made his mark internationally at the 2024 Oceania Championships in Fiji where he won the bronze medal in a very competitive 200m.

His time of 21.32 seconds in the semifinal was a sign of things to come. Just this year the young lad from East New Britain smashed the 200m national record in April clocking 20.75secs before further improving this to 20.64 secs on May 1^st   .

Athletics PNG Inc. president Tony Green said this event has become the young lad’s specialty after breaking the 200m national record twice in a span of two months.

Tuna continued his fine form at the Pacific Games in Palau, pushing Pais Wisil all the way to the line in the 100m and dominating the 200m to win the Gold for PNG.

“PNG has a quota of only one athlete, and the decision who to select this year was very difficult as there was almost nothing between Tuna and Pais Wisil in terms of performance.”

“We looked at the quality of their performances in their respective events, their best individual performances using point scoring tables, their respective world rankings and how they have performed in major competitions.”

“It could not have been closer but a decision had to be made and considering all factors, we decided on Timothy who has a slightly higher world ranking,” Green added.

Tuna will return to school in New Mexico by mid-august and is expected to travel to Tokyo mid-September with some of his school team mates who will be representing their own countries at the Championships.

The 200m heats will be on Sept 17 and the semifinal the following day.