JONE Delai laughed and shook his head as he looked at a printout of the back page of The Fiji Times published on July 17, 1992. It read “Fiji trio scoops sprints glory.” A young Jone Delai is pictured racing to the finish of the 100m race ahead of compatriots Anare Ragigia and Solomone Bole.
It was the Mobil International Athletics Meet and Delai had run a time of 10.7 seconds.
“This was 24 years ago,” he said as he looked at the printout.
Earlier when contacted, Delai was not sure what event was being suggested to him.
“There had been so many races back then. That time I was just making trips in and out of Fiji to Australia for competition and training,” he said.
“Look at the uniforms we are wearing. I am sure the athletes running nowadays would not believe what we wore and raced in. Loose vests and running shots instead of the skins they are using nowadays.
“Those days when Fiji did not have that much technical equipment but thrived on raw talent.”
That year was 1992 which was also the year the Olympic Games was held at Barcelona in Spain. Delai was the number one choice to represent Fiji that year but a hamstring injury meant he would not be making that trip.
“I pulled my hamstring during training so I kissed my Barcelona dreams goodbye,” he recalled.
Delai’s time of 10.34seconds is still the Pacific Games record in the 100m. Current sprint king Banuve Tabakaucoro has run a faster time of 10.2 seconds on the tracks outside of the Pacific Games.
Looking forward to the Olympic Games in Rio, Delai said he hoped the athletics team all the best.
“Leslie (Copeland) would do good. He is ranked and with the way he is performing, he should make an impression in Rio,” Delai said.
“I am not sure which one of the girls will get the nod.”
The former sprinter is now a teacher at Suva Grammar School and has coached the SGS sprints team to many blue ribbon wins at the Coke Games.
