Marshall Islands Athletics Marshall Islands Athletics Marshall Islands Athletics, also known as Marshall Islands Athletics Federation (MIAF) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Marshall Islands. Athletes from the Marshall Islands participated already at the 1969 Micronesian Games, (the Marshall Islands then still being part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands,) and also after re-establishment of the Games in 1990. The foundation of MIAF is reported for 1987, as well as its affiliation to the IAAF in the same year. Melvin Majmeto served as president of MIAF. Current president is former shot putter and discus thrower Rais Aho.
Japanese settlement in the Marshall Islands closer cultural and economic ties with Japan. Japanese firms that were based on the Marshall Islands since the 1960s actively sought joint ventures with local companies from the 1980s onwards, mainly in the fishery sector. Expatriates usually consisted of Okinawan fishermen based at Majuro, where Japanese companies have built smoking and canning facilities to facilitate the processing of tuna catches. The Marshall Islands remained sparsely populated by Japanese settlers, relative to the other mandated Micronesian islands. The first pre-war census of the Marshall Islands counted 490 Japanese among 10,000 Marshallese, and the number of Japanese settlers increased to 680 scattered