It will mean that athletes are awarded this sum per gold medal, while individual members of a team winning gold will receive PGK20,000 (£5,100/$7,700/€6,700) each.

Justin Tkatchenko, the nation's Sports Minister, announced the move in conjunction with representatives from the Papua New Guinea Sports Federation and Olympic Committee ahead of the Games, which are schedule to take place from July 4 to 18.

The Government initiative, which has been allocated a budget of PGK5.7 million (£1.4 million/$2.2 million/€1.9 million), has been introduced to recognise and reward the athletes for their efforts at the event and is the first of its kind in the country.

"It's very important that we encourage our athletes to aim for gold and objectives for Pacific Games," Tkatchenko said.

"The Government recognises the hard work, commitment and responsibility of the athletes in their efforts and endeavours to become gold medal winners."

Papua New Guinea will be seeking an improvement on the third place on the medals table achieved at the 2011 Games in Noumea, New Caledonia
©AFP/Getty Images



Richard Kassman, the Papua New Guinea Chef de Mission for Port Moresby 2015, and Papua New Guinea Sports Federation and Olympic Committee President Sir John Dawanincura welcomed the move and thanked Prime Minister Peter O'Neill for introducing the scheme.

"We are grateful for the Government's support and our goal is gold at our home Games for team PNG," Kassman said.

The nation expects to have a team of some 800 athletes and officials at the Pacific Games in the country's capital city.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
January 2015: Conference in Papua New Guinea to ensure coaches and managers are prepared for 2015 Pacific Games