A bowler from tiny Norfolk Island in the South Pacific has won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games despite a complete lack of indoor facilities in her homeland.
Shae Wilson’s chances of winning only the island’s third medal ever at the Games appeared to have evaporated after organisers announced that the lawn bowls event would be moved inside for the first time.
Bowlers on the island – best known as the place where descendants of the Bounty mutineers resettled in 1856 – must swerve shots around the potholes on two grass greens in its de facto capital, Burnt Pine.
But 27-year-old Wilson, playing at her third Games, mastered the sleek Glasgow carpet to such an extent that she sunk reigning world champion Emma Firyana Saroji of Malaysia on Sunday to finally earn a place on the podium.
“It’s crazy to think I’ve come here and won a medal,” Wilson told the Press Association. “Back home we have one club with two grass greens. It’s a struggle to get green-keepers at times and there are a few potholes on the way.
“I might get away once a year and play in an indoor tournament but it’s not often, so it’s a big change. The greens here are running at around 17 seconds, whereas our greens might be 11 or 12. But I just had to get out there and work it out.”
Leaving the island is no mean feat for Wilson, an early childhood support worker, or her 2,000 fellow inhabitants. The island is situated roughly 1,000 miles north-east of Sydney, and 600 miles north-west of Auckland. Its nearest populated neighbour is New Caledonia, over 500 miles away.
Yet neither the facilities nor its remoteness have denied Norfolk Island its place on the Games medal table.
It has competed at every Commonwealth Games since Edinburgh in 1986, and won previous bowls bronze medals in 1994 and 2018. John Christian, a direct descendant of leading Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian, was part of Norfolk Island’s lawn bowls team in 2022.
“It’s nice to put Norfolk back on the medals table,” added Wilson. “It’s a tiny place and such a tight community, and everyone back home is supporting and cheering for me. But I wouldn’t say I’m a local celebrity. Everyone knows everyone over there.”
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