Giving up the tracks for the sand pit has its challenges but former Coca-Cola Games blue ribbon winner Waisele Dokonivalu Inoke the switch has been smooth.
The ex-Mahatma Gandhi Memorial High School sprinter, who has secured a two-year scholarship to study at Neosho Community College in Kansas, US, has taken up long jump and triple jump, switching from the track to the field.
Inoke said training had been tough but he was grateful he had a coach in Eugene Vollmer who taught him all he needed to know to be a good jumper.
“I competed in the Oceania Cup in Saipan, Northern Marianas last month where I managed to get a gold medal in the triple jump with a leap of 14.78 metres,” Inoke said.
“I’m looking forward to give my best this year in both long jump and triple jump.”
Vollmer said they had been working closely with other jumpers in Fiji, trying to get them prepared for the Athletics Fiji trials.
Inoke and 137 athletes were at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva last Saturday to participate in Athletics Fiji’s first trials for selection to the Pacific Games.
Inoke recorded a jump of 6.6m in the long jump but did not compete in the triple jump.
“Our first hurdle is the trials, get past the trials then we will look towards the Pacific Games. The biggest challenge the jumpers face is the weather because it’s the winter season, we’re getting a lot of rain and also we have other sports like rugby, so there are also venue issues,” said Vollmer.
“We use Albert Park and just the surrounding areas around Suva to train. It’s no excuse for us because it has been done in the past where athletes have had to train outside of the stadium and go to the games and do well.
“Inoke is a really good jumper, he just came back from the Oceania Cup in Saipan where he won gold.
“That was a new personal best for him. We were really not focusing on the triple jump, we were focusing on the stronger event, the long jump. But he went and did way better in the triple.”
The Pacific Games will be held in the Solomon Islands in November.
