TEAM Fiji javelin thrower Leslie Copeland set an unofficial personal best of 84m during his first training run at Rio yesterday.
And if the former Marist Brother’s High School student maintains the same distance at the upcoming Rio Olympics event on August 17, he will for the first time secure a spot in the Olympics final and be in contention for a medal play-off.
Leslie had recorded personal best of 82m and 83m in the past competitions and his recent training performance has painted a good indication for Team Fiji’s Rio campaign.
In the last Olympics, Copeland finished 13th overall and just missed out by one spot for the top 12 finish that featured at the final.
Coach and former national rep James Goulding said the outcome of their training run was positive and the aim was to secure a spot in the final 12.
“We are quietly confident that Leslie will throw over 84m and to secure a spot in the final,” said Goulding.
“He is anticipating a good performance and he is much focused and wants nothing else than an improved performance compared with his last outing.
“He threw 84m plus at training and if he throws 83m then he will reach the finals and anything can happen.”
Goulding said with more training runs being lined-up this week he was optimistic of Copeland’s chances of qualifying for the final.
“We still got our fingers crossed and we want to be quietly confident of his chances and that is the way we want him to be.
“He has high expectation likewise for me as a coach as this competition will motivate him to achieve his target being the highest competition of all.”
Goulding said the presence of other competitors at the Olympics training venues also inspired Copeland.
“The presence alone of other javelin throwers from around the world at the Games will motivate him during the competition.”
Copeland will take on the field on August 12.
