IT is difficult to shrug off the fact that sports has an important place in the lives of Fijians.
For many people, it is difficult to go past the Pacific Games, for instance, without getting a sense of pride over some of our achievements.
The powerful form of speed merchant Banuve Tabakaucoro for starters demanded attention.
He dominated the blue ribbon event on Tuesday, powering through to a convincing gold medal win on the tracks.
It was actually a foregone conclusion that he would win gold.
He left no doubts about his superior form and blitzed the field in a time of 10.55seconds. That display alone would have pricked out pride and a sense of patriotism among thousands of fans.
We ruled the tracks and Banuve carried our hopes and aspirations on his shoulders.
In the women’s section of the competition, there was hope in a young and upcoming star Younis Bese when she fronted up for the final of the women’s 100m.
She did not win, but she would have given fans hope for the future.
We once ruled the tracks when the likes of Makelesi Bulikiobo, Rachel Rogers and Vaciseva Tavaga dominated at this regional event.
Bese finished behind PNG’s queen of the tracks Toea Wisil.
In soccer, the win over Vanuatu U23 in the qualifiers on Sunday saw our team seal a spot to the Olympic Games next year, leave aside the fact that they still had to compete for medals.
The win was special for many reasons and comes at a time when we find ourselves languishing towards the bottom of the FIFA world ranking.
In rugby, Ben Ryan’s team continued Fiji’s impressive and steady rise in the abbreviated version of the game. With the World Rugby series title in the bag, and an Olympic Games ticket to Rio, we now have the Pacific Games gold to round off things this season.
Our swimmers won medals as did our shooters and weightlifters when their time came.
Netball and basketball were no slouches either.
There was concern though at the form of the Fiji Bati.
We went in as defending champions and did not live up to expectations, falling by the wayside against a Tongan outfit that wanted the game more than we did the other day.
Hosts PNG proved that good preparation counts at the end of the day.
Understandably, teams that prepared well for the PNG foray would have reaped fair rewards.
As we head down the final stretch, so to speak, this week, let us continue to back our contingent in Port Moresby. Live television coverage, the heavy online media presence, newspapers and radio broadcasts have brought the event into our living rooms, where the exploits of our athletes are on display.
Sports has long been a bridge across many imaginary divides. It will continue to attract attention and have a hand in bringing our people together. Go Fiji, go.
