TEAM Fiji Judoka Josateki Naulu acknowledged the support he has from family, friends, the national federation and FASANOC as he pushes for a spot in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
“My family and extended family have been very supportive since day one,” said Josateki.
“I am forever grateful for their support and also thanks to FASANOC, especially Lyndall Fisher, who has been tirelessly working behind the scenes to get us to these qualifying tournaments.
“I sacrificed a lot especially being away from family to make the London Olympics in 2012 and it’s the same trying to qualify for Rio 2016.”
He said it was a childhood dream to compete at the Olympic Games and that the road has been tough but definitely worth it.
Josateki also thanked the Fiji Judo Association which, like a lot of other sports federation in the country, has been struggling with funding.
“But we make do with what we get,” he said.
The experienced judoka has been an Oceania Champion in 2006 and 2012 and is currently on a IOC Olympic Solidarity Scholarship.
He has also participated at the Pacific Games in 2011 and the Oceania Judo Championship in Cairns, Australia in 2012 where he was placed first in both tournaments.
Josateki who fights in the 81kg category was also part of Team Fiji to the London Olympic Games in 2012 and in 2013 he was placed seventh at the Miami Grand Prix in 2013.
This year he was placed second at both the Oceania Judo Championship and the Asia Judo Open in Taiwan.
Josateki said he was fortunate of the support he was receiving from the NPO Oceania Sports Support Organisation.
“They have been hands on with my training program here in Japan,” he said.
“Training has been tough but it is something I am prepared to go through to qualify for Rio.”
Josateki said there were a few more tournaments he had to participate in before qualifying until April 2016 which is when Olympic qualification ends.
“There are quite a lot of tournaments that carries Olympic points from now until then, but due to limited funding we cannot afford to go to every one of these tournaments so there’s a lot of planning to get more bang for the buck with the funding and tournaments that we do attend,” he said.
Josateki’s next tournament is at the Oceania Open in Wollongong in Australia from November 13.
