Taranaki’s latest golden girls
Most high schoolers are still figuring out what to do after graduation – while others have already won Olympic gold medals.
Taranaki’s latest golden girls are buzzing after picking up their medals at the Youth Olympic Games.
Iritana Hohaia and Tiana Davison were part of the ‘Baby Black Ferns’ Under-18 women’s sevens team that walked away with the gold medal in Buenos Aires earlier this week, beating France 15-12 in the final.
‘‘It’s been nerve-wrecking but an amazing experience to be out on the field with the girls,’’ Hohaia said.
Crossing the line to score a try just before half-time was ‘‘surreal’’, she said.
‘‘It was one of the most enjoyable moments in my rugby career. I can’t really describe what it felt like to cross that line.
‘‘We never took anything lightly. It was a challenge every game.’’
Davison said the medal ceremony was ‘‘pretty crazy’’.
‘‘We were all still hot and sweaty and in the middle of celebrating. All the hard work and dedication had paid off.
‘‘Coming from a small town in Taranaki, where there’s only a few things we have access to, to a high-performance crew, it’s pretty cool.’’
Hohaia added that ‘‘we’re both pretty proud of how far we’ve come’’.
‘‘We don’t have as much resource as the other girls do but we make the most of what we’ve got.’’
The girls were staying in Argentina until today, sightseeing and hoping to catch some other events.
Both also aspire to play for the Black Ferns one day, but are taking ‘‘each step as it comes’’.
Team manager Tangi Waikari said Buenos Aires had embraced the Games.
‘‘There’s been queues for most sports around the city. What they’ve done as part of the Games is open it up to the wider city to encourage people to come along.’’
New Zealand has four medals from the Youth Games, also winning gold medals in the men’s triathlon and men’s 1.5kg discus, and a silver in canoe obstacle slalom.