Juggling studies and training is a fair struggle almost any student athlete faces.
However, for Gabriel Daunivucu, balancing the two with national sporting duties is what the 19-year-old shoulders as he represents Saint Thomas High School at the Fiji Finals competition.
Daunivucu, who is also a member of the Kaiviti Silktails rugby league side, is featuring for his Lautoka-based school in the 100- and 200-metre events at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva.
“It is tough because I have two different types of training sessions, one for rugby league and one for athletics,” he said.
“So, for one training session I will be lifting heavy weights, looking to build muscles, and the other is for increasing my speed,” the Year 13 student shared.
Though this is the Yasawa lad’s first time competing at the Fiji Finals, he is no stranger to highly competitive events having represented the Kaiviti Silktails to a handful of matches in the New South Wales Rugby League’s Jersey Flegg Cup competition.
“I decided to start competing in athletics to help me in my speed for when I play rugby league,” he said.
Trying to match the footsteps of his uncle, former Fiji 7s world cup winner Jone Daunivucu, balancing his studies with training for rugby and athletics has been no easy journey for the speedster.
“It has been very tough because when you get to school the next day, you’re very tired and it’s usually hard to focus in class.”
Daunivucu competed in the Lautoka Zone competition last month and came second in the 200m event with a time of 23.11 seconds.
“I’m looking forward to my event, and hopefully I can qualify for the finals. But if I don’t, I won’t be upset because it’s my first time competing and I saw this as an opportunity to mold myself into a better rugby league player.”
