Ratu Tabakaucoro (477) of Fiji sprints in the men’s 200-meter event (Photo: Christian V. Cruz)
SHENZHEN – Less than one million in population, Fiji has pinned its hopes on five high school athletes at the 2011 Summer Universiade.
A student from Marist Brothers High School, Ratu Tabakaucoro was one of the country’s five representatives for the biennial event.
“This is one of the biggest events in the world and I’m very privileged to represent Fiji and Oceania Athletics,” said the 200-meter sprinter in an interview.
“I had to beat the fastest men and I managed to do that in high school.”
Tabakaucoro is joined by javelin thrower Leslie Copeland, 400m runner Narara Ratutira, triple jumper Eugene Vollmer, and 800m runner Varasiko Tomeru – all of whom also attend MBHS.
Lone coach James Goulding is guiding the team through their two-week stay.
“He (Goulding) is actually a javelin coach but he’s really good. He knows a little bit of everything so we’re blessed to have him on our team,” said Tabakaucoro.
18 years young, competing with older athletes isn’t new to the sprinter.
“When I was in private school, I was running with people that are much older than me so I’m really used to it by now. It’s a really good experience. Usually when I go back to Fiji and run with people my age, it’s easy for me,” he stated.
Despite not qualifying for the men’s 200m semifinals, Tabakaucoro was “happy” with his performance.
“Hopefully with the South Pacific Games in two weeks’ time, I’ll be able to drop my times again.”
Tabakaucoro not only topped round one, heat seven of the 200m event, but also drew a new personal best time of 21.19 seconds.
In round two, he missed third place by a hairline at 21.26.
“I just missed out on my PB by a little bit and I’m sure I could’ve done a little better,” he said.
Earlier, Tabakaucoro’s performance in high school rendered him qualified for the Games.
“With our university students back inFiji, they’re not really into athletics that much. That’s why theFijiathletics chose high school students to represent them.”
This only marks the beginning for him and his teammates. With one more year before graduation, Tabakaucoro seeks to return in future Universiades.
‘The Love of the Sport’
“It’s just the love of the sport,” said Ratu when asked about what drove him to join athletics.
“I’ve been running for a pretty long time and I’ve been doing it since I was a kid.”
Tabakaucoro enjoys both the 100m and 200m events and is focused on beating his PB’s each year. With relative weather between Shenzhen and Fiji, joining the Universiade for the first time wasn’t difficult for the Fijian.
(Source: Christian V. Cruz, FISU-AIPS Young Reporter/NMI)
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