ON day one of the Coca-Cola Games in Suva, Natabua High School athlete Josevata Tuinavitilevu was set to compete in the heats of the senior boys 100m.
He competed in heat seven and stood in lane four, an indication of having one of the fastest qualifying times from the Coca-Cola Games Lautoka Zone Meet.
If he qualified for the finals, he would have competed against Suva Grammar School, Queen Victoria School, Ratu Kadavulevu School and other schools that made it through to race for the Blue Ribbon.
And then, the heat happened.
Tuinavitilevu and his seven other competitors took their marks, waited for the electronic starter gun to sound and took off.
The athlete in lane six made a break start at which he was warned by officials before the athletes took their marks again.
Tuinavitilevu took his marks again and waited for the gun to go off.
But he made a break start before the starter gun buzzed.
As a result, the starter official promptly disqualified him from the race and he exited the tracks.
Asalusi Ravoka of Xavier College won that heat with a time of 11.08s and Ni-Van sprinter Jean-Luc Kalowia of Church College finished in second with a time of 11.17s.
In the evening, Paula Vonolagi of Suva Grammar School won gold in the final and became the blue ribbon champion.
Speaking to Times Sport on Friday, Tuinavitilevu said he reflected on what had occurred in that critical moment and concluded that never losing hope was the main thing to take away from it.
“I went back to the camp yesterday (Thursday) and I never lost hope because today (Friday), I knew we were going to take home something,” Tuinavitilevu explained.
He and his three other players that formed the quartet of the senior boys 4x100m relay finished in third and took home the bronze medal.
It was a podium finish they celebrated greatly after the race since they ran it in lane seven, one of the farthest lanes often assigned to the slowest qualifiers in a final.
He also spoke of how they took the placement in stride.
“I didn’t know that we were going to come through today and I would like to thank the Almighty for helping the boys too,” he said.
Tuinavitilevu hails from Nasolo in Bua, Vanua Levu with maternal links to Raiwaqa in Namosi.
