Ongiou Timeon, Karae Tioti and their coach Karotu Bakae have been stuck in Fiji for nearly three months. 

They travelled to Australia in March to try and secure Tokyo 2020 Paralympic berths at the Queensland Athletics Championships in Brisbane.

The pandemic worsened while the trio were still in Australia, with the Kiribati Government making a two-week quarantine period in a coronavirus-free country mandatory before travellers could return to the Pacific nation. 

With help from the Oceania Paralympic Committee, Timeon, Tioti and Bakae were housed in accommodation provided by the Fijian Olympic Committee in Suva.

After completing the majority of the quarantine period, Fiji Airways then suspended international flights, leaving Timeon, Tioti and Bakae stuck in Fiji. 

"While we are here, we are staying together in one room," Bakae said.

"It’s challenging to look after my athletes as I only have experience in coaching them - not to cook and look after their daily routine, but we need to all stay happy and healthy.

"We are training here on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and I’m also preparing them breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"I know our families are really missing us but we have no other choice but to wait patiently for Fiji Airways to re-open its international flights so that we can fly back home."

The 50-year-old Tioti, a discus-thrower, gave an interview to SBS News before travelling to Brisbane. 

He was among a number of athletes from seven Pacific countries aiming to gain a place at next year's Paralympic Games. 

Kiribati was one of four countries to be granted full membership of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) during its General Assembly in Bonn in October.

The Maldives, Malta and Paraguay were the others.

The ratification of the four nations brought the IPC's membership to 205, 182 of which are National Paralympic Committees.

Kiribati became the ninth member nation from the Oceania region.