January 16: Francis Kompaon (b. 1986)

[Video description: scenes of Papua New Guinea, including beaches, food markets; then we see Francis Kompaon, a dark-skinned young man in a red athletic jersey. There are interviews with him, translated by a voice-over in English, and scenes of him running, playing soccer, and walking in a market. He describes going to school and loving sports from a young age. There is also an interview with his coach, Bernard Chan. A woman's voice narrates the video, telling his history of achievements in competition, and his plans for the future.]

[How do I find the new captioning thing for YouTube videos? I've heard it exists, but this is the first time I wanted it.--PLR]

New Guinean athlete Francis Kompaon turns 25 today. He's a sprinter in the T46 category of paralympic competition--he was born without a full left arm. At the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Kompaon won the silver medal in the 100m event. Besides the personal achievement, Kompaon had earned the first Paralympic medal ever for Papua New Guinea--in fact, the first ever medal for that country at the Olympic level, period. The PNG government awarded him with funding to attend college in Australia, where he can access better training facilities.