A ‘hall of famer’

ATHLETE and Va’a paddler, Salome Tabuatalei was inducted in the Fiji Olympic Order by the Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) Hall of Fame and conferred long serving sports administrator, Patrick Bower in Suva last night.

The Hall of Fame acknowledges and honours Fiji’s super athletes who have competed in Fiji and abroad against the best in the world. Many have excelled and brought glory and fame to themselves and contributed immensely to sport in Fiji.

Tabuatalei currently holds the national records for the women’s 1500m, 3000m, 5000m, 10000m and half marathon all of which were set in the 1990s.

She joins forty-four other inductees which also include the history making Rugby 7s men’s team from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The Fiji Olympic Order was introduced in 2001 to recognise and honour the great work that the sports entourage (administrators, coaches and officials) do to make it all possible for our Fiji athletes to perform and excel on the world stage. Most are volunteers who contribute in the following areas:

& Sports Administration & Sports Management & Coaching/Technical aspects of Sports Development

& Sports Medicine Bower has been involved in sports for most of his life. Many may not know that Patrick was a champion athlete and hockey player in his school days and so understands what it takes to become an athlete both on and off the field.

Bower was Team Fiji’s Chef de Mission to Tokyo 2020 where Team Fiji won their second Gold Medal in Rugby 7s and Fiji’s first bronze medal contributed by Fijiana 7s.

FASANOC president Makarita Lenoa said, “We’re thrilled to induct Salome to the Fiji Sports Hall of Fame and confer to Patrick the Fiji Olympic Order. Their contributions to sports in Fiji are fully deserving of such recognition within the walls of Fiji Olympic House. We look forward to adding more plaques to the Hall of Fame in the coming years.”