Shot Putter Jonathan: Security Guard at Refugee Detention Centre to CWG debut

Hailing from a tiny island of Nauru, the amateur shot putter Jonathan made his Commonwealth Games debut one year after taking up the sport.

Not too long ago, Jonathan Deiwea was keeping a close watch on refugees trying to flee the detention centre. Hailing from a tiny island of Nauru, the amateur shot putter Jonathan made his Commonwealth Games debut one year after taking up the sport. The 28-year-old, who was employed by a security company in the micro-state in Oceania region, had a tough job at hand. He was part of the team that nabbed refugees from the middle east, trying to enter the Australian territory via sea and put them in detention centres. ''It is a big responsibility. I took care of them for one year. My job was to look after them, see they are not jumping over the fence and running away. It was tough mentally. I will go back and see if I can do it again,'' Jonathan told PTI. Coming to the Commonwealth Games for the first time having picked up the sport only one year ago, he had set low expectations. ''This is my first time I tried to do the best I could and produced my personal best,'' he said.

Jonathan did manage to record his personal best, 15.41m, in the shot put final held at the Alexander Stadium on Friday. He was 12th and last among the finalists with Tom Walsh of New Zealand winning gold with a 22.26 effort.

Since most members of the contingent have full time jobs, Jonathan said it is tough to manage the routine of an athlete.

''I made decent money from the security job that I had but I don't know if can do sport full time. Shot put is anyway not that big back home,'' he said. Due to proximity to Australia, the Australian Rules Football is the most popular sport in Nauru. Tennis and golf are also keenly followed. Nauru, the world's third smallest country with a population of just over 10,000, is here with a 16-member contingent. It's only medal, a bronze, has come so far in women's weightlifting via Maximina Uepa who dedicated her performance to the only COVID-19 fatality back home.

Reanna Solomon, a mother of five who passed away aged 40 on July 3, is the only person to die of the virus.

Reanna won gold in the women's +75kg super-heavyweights at Manchester 2002 and competed at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

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