Athletics Fiji will be sending nine athletes to represent Fiji at the 2023 World Cross Country Championship (WCCC) that will be held in Bathurst, Australia on February 18.
According to a press release from Athletics Fiji, a total of 20 athletes have been in training for the past eight weeks, where nine of these athletes have been selected.
Meanwhile, seven of these athletes will be representing the country for the first time.
Akeneta Lutu of Lomaivuna High School will be competing in the women’s six kilometres event. Lutu won a bronze medal in the 3000 metres open grade, clocking a time of 11 minutes 41.30 seconds.
For the open men’s 10km event, Evueli Toia of St Vincent College and Jeremiah Singh have been selected.
In the open mixed relay team, sisters Adi Ama Masau and Adi Folori Masau will team up with Sailasa Moala of Lomaivuna and Pratik Goundar of Andhra College to tackle the event.
These seven athletes will be joined by two long distance athletes who are based in Australia, Ben Ashe and masters athlete Pramesh Prasad.
The 2023 WCCC will serve as preparation grounds for the Pacific Games that will be held in the Solomon Islands in November.
“This may be a young and inexperienced Fiji Team, but the WCCC will provide a new beginning to revive Fiji’s competitive middle and long distance running.
“We hope that these athletes and others that are training will continue the momentum and perform well in the lead up to the Pacific Games,” the press release read.
The team will be managed and coached by Dayal Robin and Noel Singh from Brisbane.
