๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฎ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ญ, ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฒ
August 19-27, 2023- Sydney Francisco’s journey in athletics began during her formative years, and by the age of 13, she beganon a transformative path under the guidance of Ms. Mizuki Honda, a JICA Volunteer, who was working with Palau Track and Field Associaiton as a Coach, and trained her as a Hurdler, and got Sydney to compete in the 100m and 400m Hurdles back in 2018 Micronesian Games in Yap, FSM.
In 2019, Sydney progressed to the next phase of her education, transitioning from Koror Elementary School to Xavier High School in Weno, Chuuk. However, due to the challenging circumstances of drought and the COVID-19 pandemic, she returned to Palau and enrolled at Palau High School.
At the age of 15, Sydney shifted her focus to sprint events, making her mark in high school competitions such as the BIIAA Athletics Championships, BIIAA Cross Country Seasons, and the Belau Games.
The peak of her athletic journey arrived in 2022 when she proudly represented Palau at the Oceania Area Championships in Mackay, Australia. She competed in the 100m and 200m sprints and there, she achieved a personal best times of 13.80 seconds in the U18 100m sprints, and a 29.20 seconds in the 200m.
Following her performance in Mackay, AUS, her progress improved and received the honor of representing her country at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She competed in the 100m, and set another personal best with a time of 13.48 seconds as she was in the same Heats with ShaโCarri Richardson, from USA and the World Champion in 100m in 2023.
After her race, she continued to train in Budapest with some of the Athletes from Oceania Region as well as an opportunity to witness the finals in the Womens 100m.
She retuned back to Palau on the 30th of August and now attending the Palau Community College as well as continuing her Ahtletics training in preparation for the upcoming Pacific Games in Solomon Islands in November 2023.