A four-year record in the intermediate boys long jump event was broken by Ratu Apenisa Navukitu of Nakasi High School, setting a new record of 6.48m at the Triple N Zone athletics competition at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva yesterday.
The previous record of 6.06m was set by David Raibiriki.
Navukitu’s winning jump was made in his third attempt, after reaching 6.25m and 6.42m in his first and second attempt.
The Navolau, Ra lad relayed how excited he felt following the win and added what the added significance of breaking the record meant for him.
“I am very happy that I broke the record that was set four years ago and I would like to thank the Lord for guiding me in my progression in the long jump competition,” Navukitu said.
The preparation for his record-breaking appearance, he said took a span of considerable time.
“We had been camping together for the past couple of months and it would mean training in the morning, and once that was done we would have ice baths,” he shared.
“We would then recover and prepare ourselves again for training in the afternoons.”
Intensifying his preparation and training began when the school had its inter-house meet earlier in the term.
With a record-breaking performance from the youngster, he now sets his sights on something greater — the Fiji Finals.
“I will continue to maintain the level of preparation done in the past week and prepare myself really well for it since the Fiji Finals has a different atmosphere,” he said.
