Edward Laboran (born 23 June 1942) is a former

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er. Laboran won the high jump event at the inaugural Papua New Guinea National Championships, held in

Lae Lae () is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River and at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor between the Highl ...

on 6 October 1962, with a leap of 1.90 m. He went on to win this event for the next three years. The following year, Laboran was part of the maiden Papua New Guinean team to compete at the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. The ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia, where he finished 11th in the

clearing the bar at . This set a new national record which stood for five years. Twelve months later at the inaugural

South Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games were ...

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, Edward easily won gold in the

. With a jump of , he finished a full ten centimeters higher than the silver medal winner, Tevita Kabakoro from Fiji. This established an inaugural games record that stood until the 1971 Games in

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

. In the

2011 Pacific Games The 2011 Pacific Games (officially known as NC 2011) took place in Nouméa, New Caledonia, from August 27 to September 10, 2011. Nouméa was the 14th host of the Pacific Games. Upon closure of the registration for entries, "some 4,300 athletes" h ...

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, a ...

, Laboran was honoured by participating in a medal ceremony for the Athletics competition. In December 2011, Laboran alongside Sir

John Kaputin Sir John Kaputin, CMG is a Papua New Guinean athlete and politician. Kaputin was born on 11 July 1941 on Matupit Island, East New Britain Province. After his primary schooling in the province, he proceeded onto Rockhampton Boys Grammar School ...

, became the inaugural inductees into the

Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee (IOC code: PNG) is the National Olympic Committee representing Papua New Guinea. See also *Papua New Guinea at the Olympics *Papua New Guinea at the Commonwealth Games References Papua New Guinea ...

Sporting Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laboran, Edward 1942 births Living people Male high jumpers Papua New Guinean high jumpers Commonwealth Games competitors for Papua New Guinea Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Place of birth missing (living people) Papua New Guinean male athletes