American Samoa’s John Wasko missed chance to compete in China
Oh drat. M70 sprinter John Wasko had a chance to be the only American to compete at the Asian Masters Athletics Championships in northeast China. But alas, he tells me via FB, he got his invite less than 30 days before the meet, which ended this week. “Not much time for travel plans, ticketing, visa and accommodations,” John said. “Plus there was a requirement for a country sponsorship letter. Not much time for all of that. So maybe next event. More cordial was the African Masters in Ivory Coast. Cost was prohibitive this year. However, the Oceania Masters takes place in Dunedin, New Zealand, in January. I’m planning to attend. New Zealand and Australia have excellent masters programs.” Had he gone, however, he said: “There was also a provision that my results would be recorded but not in the official results. American Samoa is not a member of the Asian track federation. I really didn’t about that so much. So their invitation was cordial and welcoming.” I asked about where he lived, and he said: “American Samoa. We are a US territory. Our ‘track’ is cement!!!” According to his LinkedIn profile, John was M65 champion at the 2013 Hawaiian Senior Olympics in the 100 (16.56), 200 (35.02) and 400 (79.16).
John Wasko now looks forward to Oceania Masters WMA meet in January.
One Response
Really sorry you could not participate. As a 77 year old, I look forward to a meet, unfortunately health problems have kept me out of several meets this year, so for you to have missed because of paperwork problems out of your control is just unimaginable.
Keep on running, your star will shine in the future.
John Impson.
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