Wesley Roberts is the first Cook Islander to set a Pacific Games record (two swimming records at the 2023 Pacific Games). 24072220
Team Cook Islands is hoping to add swimmer Wesley Tikiariki Roberts as the third athlete to compete at the Paris Olympic Games, which start this Friday in France.
Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee
(CISNOC) last week announced only two athletes – swimmer Lanihei Connolly and
athlete Alex Beddoes – will represent the country at the 2024 Paris Olympics to
be held from July 26 to August 11.
Roberts, the first Cook Islander to set a Pacific
Games record (two swimming records at the 2023 Pacific Games), was initially
named in the team but wasn’t part of CISNOC’s final list released last week.
Cook Islands News contacted Cook Islands Aquatics
Federation president Romani Katoa on Friday to seek clarification on the
swimmer’s exclusion.
Yesterday, Inside the Games website reported that the
Cook Islands Aquatics Federation and CISNOC have filed a request for
arbitration to allow Roberts to complete under the universality quota.
The request was filed with the Court of Arbitration
for Sport (CAS), which was expected to announce its ruling on a universality
place request this morning.
According to the organisation, they are designed to
increase the diversity of nations participating in the Olympic Games sports
programme, as some nations may have dozens or even hundreds of athletes with a
guaranteed place at the Olympic Games at the end of the qualification process
in each sport, while others may have only a handful.
Universality quotas are available as part of the
qualification system in certain sports for nations that have traditionally had
small delegations.
According to Inside the Games, Cook Islands requested
and were denied by World Aquatics on July 19, so they have requested
arbitration from CAS, the specialised body.
The Cook Islands Aquatics Federation and CISNOC
requested that the CAS annul the contested decision and order Worlds Aquatics
to award Roberts a universal slot for the swimming competition at the Paris
2024 Olympic Games
The case was to be heard by Kristen Thorsness (USA) as
sole arbitrator. The hearing was scheduled for the morning of July 23, 2024.
The Olympic Games Tripartite Commission is responsible
for allocating the universality quotas to the eligible National Olympic
Committees. This Commission is composed of representatives of the International
Olympic Committee, the Association of National Olympic Committees and the
Association of International Summer Olympic Federations.
National Olympic Committees that participated in the
Rio 2016 or Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with an average of eight or fewer athletes
per sport are eligible for a universal quota.
Earlier this month, Athletics Cook
Islands confirmed that middle distance runner Beddoes will be heading to
Paris after making the cut through universality quota.
Meanwhile the Atiu-born, Australian-based swimmer
Roberts won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze medal at the Pacific Games
in Solomon Islands last year.
He claimed the first gold medal for Team Cook Islands
in the men’s 400-metre freestyle with a time of 3 minutes 58.41 seconds. Roberts added a bronze medal to his tally in
the men’s 200-metre individual medley, clocking in at 2:09.81 minutes. He then
shattered the 100-metre freestyle record for men, which had stood since 2015. He
clocked a blistering 50.05 seconds in the final, showcasing his exceptional
speed and skill. On the same night he competed in the 50m men’s butterfly final
where he managed silver medal after finishing the race in 24.86 seconds.
In his final race, Roberts secured another gold medal
– his second at the Pacific Games – in the 200-metre freestyle and set another
record of 1.49.78 minutes, surpassing the 2007 record of 1.50.27 mins set by
Pacific Games legend Ryan Pini.
Roberts won the Sportsman of the Year and Sports
Achievement of the Year and Lanihei Connolly claimed the Sportswoman of the
Year and Junior Sportswoman of the Year at the 2023 Cook Islands Sports Awards
held in May this year.
- Additional reporting by Oscar Allende/Inside
the Games