One of the finest athletes to come out of the 2024 Coca-Cola Games is Resina Marama Rabaleira of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial High School.
From Seaqaqa, Macuata to stamping her mark in the 2024 Fiji Finals, the 14-year-old was the first athlete to win gold and to break a record at the athletics competition last week.
She broke the old record of five minutes 35.30 seconds in the sub-junior 1500m set in 2022 by Laisiana Kororua of Naitaisiri Secondary School. Her new record is five minutes 17.54 seconds.
She not only won gold in the 1500m and broke the record, she also won gold in the 800m and the 4x400m relay for her school.
Rabaleira was also awarded the sub-junior girls’ best athlete award and the 2024 overall girls’ best female athlete award – an outstanding achievement for a first time Coca-Cola athlete.
Last year she represented her school Vudibasoga Catholic School in Macuata in the 2023 Punjas Biscuit Games in Lautoka and won silver in the competition — so running in a national competition isn’t new for the young lass.
She said she is privileged to be given an opportunity to attend a school in Suva and to represent MGM.
“I thank God for his guidance and protection on my life and for giving me the strength to achieve what I’ve achieved at the Coca-Cola Games,” she said.
“I thank my coaches and the school for believing in me and for pushing me to reach my goal. My coaches in the last five months have helped me be the best I can be, and I thank them for their support.
“I thank my family, my grandparents who are here, my parents back at home and my siblings for their morale support.”
Filled with emotions, Rabaleira said she had only expected to win a gold medal at one of her events but didn’t expect to win three gold, break a record and be awarded overall girls’ best athletes and sub-junior girls’ best athletes during the three-day meet.
“I’m shocked when I was told I had broken the two-year-old record – it is a great achievement,” she said.
“Training in the scorching sun was difficult but I had to make that sacrifice to achieve my goal.”
Rabaleira along with six other athletes broke the sub-junior girls’ 1500m record.
