Former National Athlete and a renowned Trainer and Coach, Nelson Stone was once again overlooked at the recent 2026 SP Sports Awards, despite his active involvement and contribution towards Papua New Guinea (PNG) sports and athlete development.

He took to social media after the awards to express his disappointment after another year of setback, missing out on the Sports Official of the Year category for the seventh year in a row.

Since 2020, after Stone called it quits on his glittering athletics career in 2019 and built on his N.E.S.T (Never Ever Stop Trying) Program, as well as coaching and mentoring, he was a finalist in the Sports Official of the Year category from 2020-2026, only to end up as the Runner-up consecutively.

When PNG Haus Bung reached out to Stone and asked him about his thoughts on missing out on the awards, his response was, “I respect the judges’ decision. It is what it is. I’d say, I’m not disappointed I just knew it’d be the same result. It does not bother me, I guess I’m used to this set back and it’s ok, I just have to move on. Maybe this is God’s plan for me not to win this year.”

When asked about his focus now and moving forward from this year’s SP Awards set back, he said,

“I always work hard and I keep turning up, it’s been 3 decades of hard work and I’ll keep going. My focus now is on empowering communities, women, and youths through my NEST program. I want to see people live a better life and free from bad choices and directions from bad people. Never Ever Stop Trying in whatever they do or dream of in life.”

Meanwhile, prior to the SP Sports Awards, the Australian Government, through the Pilai Lo Stap Wantaim initiative had recognized the community empowerment programs that Stone does through his N.E.S.T program as the Australian High Commissioner, H.E. Ewen McDonald presented Stone with a Community Grant that will help him continue with his community programs.

“It’s quite amazing to receive such grants from the Australian Government. It clearly shows the recognition of my dedication of the work I do. This recognition gives me hope for my contribution and service to the people, through health, sports, fitness and other community engagements through the N.E.S.T program.” Concludes Stone.