Growing athletics beyond Fiji Finals
The 2018 Coca-Cola Games ended at the ANZ Stadium yesterday after three days of intense competition.
As always the electrifying atmosphere at Laucala was there for all to see, full of colour, pomp and intense rivalries between the students from around Fiji. The presence of two Government ministers at the closing ceremony, acting Prime Minister and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and Minister for Youth and Sports Laisenia Tuitubou lifted the Games profile and showed that sports is important to their Government. The only blemish for the Games was the decision by the officials to re-run the senior boys 200 metres final which was won by Queen Victoria School sprinter Jim Colasau in 22.09sec.
The officials set a precedent by allowing favourite Shane Tuvusa, of Natabua High School, who was earlier disqualified for breaking, to run alone later.
Tuvusa clocked 22.29sec. If he had run 22.08sec, faster than Colasau, he would have been awarded the gold. The drama showed that the officials doubted the integrity of their starting gun process.
If the gun was defective then this should have been made public for the sake of transparency. The controversy suggested that Tuvusa was given special treatment. The officials should have stood firm on the first ruling and avoided this embarrassing development. One rule should fit all. What would stop the next athlete in similar circumstances next year asking for a rerun? That’s the serious implication of this incident. The other sad aspect is we may never see again in action many of these promising athletes in the senior division. Those in the sub junior will return. The Games, for the seniors, will remain as memories to cherish and stories to tell about their experience. That’s where it all ends for many when it should be the beginning of a new journey in an athletics career. It’s a tragedy for any sport when this happens – a waste of talents. Fiji once dominated athletics in the region. It is no longer the case now because it cannot retain the young athletes from these Games. That’s the on-going trend despite the hard work and planning by Shop N Save Athletics Fiji. Oceania Athletics observer Bob Snow says to save the sport, efforts must be made to keep the students involved. Snow, who has been following the Coca-Cola Games for the last 20 years was also a former Jasper Williams High, Niusawa Methodist and Lelean Memorial athletics coach.
Snow said: “The problem at the moment is too many people end their athletics career after the Coca-Cola Games. They really should try to aim higher and this is an on-going problem for Athletics Fiji in keeping school stars in the sport.
“Athletics has declined over the years because trainers and teachers focus more on medals rather than producing quality athletes.”
A case in point is St Joseph’s Secondary School’s Heleina Young, who became the first female athlete to run the 100metres intermediate grade under 12 seconds on Friday. She even clocked a better time than Makereta Naulu, of Adi Cakobau School, who won the senior girls 100m final in 12.24 secs and the longstanding record (12.16) set by Makelesi Tumalevu, of Suva Grammar School, in 2008.
Perhaps elite athletes should be contracted. There should also be an Athletics Academy to keep students in the game. To prevent the students from joining other sports, athletics must be an alternative career path, like rugby, for students. Coca-Cola Amatil may like to extend its sponsorship beyond the Fiji Finals. Unless we do something to keep these students interested in athletics, we may have just seen their last performance.