Pacific sprint king Banuve Tabakaucoro and middle distance specialist Yeshnil Karan will lead the gold medal charge for Team Fiji athletics at the Pacific Mini Games in Saipan, Northern Marianas from June 17-25.
The Fiji contingent flew out yesterday.
Both athletes have qualified for the Commonwealth Games which will be held in Birmingham, England from July 28 to August 8.
Athletics Fiji team coach for the PMG Albert Miller said their preparations went as expected. He said the athletes were looking forward to competing at the PMG.
“We had a team that went to the Oceania Championship recently,” Miller said.
“So it was a shame that we could not get the chance to take the whole team to get a good competition but that’s the way it is. “Otherwise the athletes have prepared as well as they could under the circumstances.
“I think the athletes are looking forward to competing at the PMG and we will see how they go.”
Athletics Fiji will use the PMG as a build-up to the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands. Miller said the PMG would serve as exposure for the young athletes.
“Between this group and the one that went to the Oceania Championship, I think we have a good core of athletes for the next Pacific Games,” the former national rep said.
“They have done relatively well considering the preparation time. We will be looking at coming back to rebuild and have a stronger squad for next year.”
Team Fiji departed for Saipan from Nadi on a Fiji Airways charter flight yesterday. Tabakaucoro flew to Saipan from Australia via the Philippines earlier.
