Trienssa Lanja Fritz, Athlete, Nauru
“Lanja is a role model for other young people to make their passion a profession and help their country to develop in many ways.”
At only 22, Trienssa Lanja Fritz has already been involved in the sport of athletics for many years, first as a high performance sprinter representing Nauru at international meets and as a development officer with Nauru Athletics Association since 2016.
As an athlete, Lanja represented Nauru in the Pacific School Games in Canberra in 2008, the Oceania Championships in Gold Coast 2009, Cook Islands 2014, and Cairns 2015. She is the gold medallist in the 100m sprint in the Micronesia Championship in 2014, silver medallist in 100m in the Coral Coast Games, Cairns.
Since moving into sports development, she has qualified as a coaches lecturer and has held a coaching course in Nauru to teach 13 new athletics coaches to assist in the development of athletics in the country. “Lanja shows that there are pathways in sport and many ways to participate: as an athlete, technical official, volunteer or administrator,” says Sarah Runzheimer, a project manager with Oceania Athletics Association. “Lanja is a role model for other young people to make their passion a profession and help their country to develop in many ways.”