Photo: We are the champions from right, Banuve Tabakaucoro, Niko Verekauta and Tevita Nalovo after the 200m race. PHOTO LECA VUNIBOBO
FIJI sprinters created another piece of history yesterday after a clean sweep in the men’s and women’s 200 metres events at the BCI Stadium.
And with that the gentle giant Niko Verekauta broke the 12-year-old record of 21.36 seconds to claim his third gold medal in 2009 Pacific Mini Games.
He set a new record time of 21.33s after a blazing run that might have ended the controversy on the fastest man in the Pacific.
Fellow compatriot Banuve Tabakaucoro and Tevita Nalovo settled for silver and bronze medal respectively.
Secondary school students Tabakaucoro clocked 21.70s and Nalovo finished in 22.16s.
In the women’s 200m dash, sprint queen Makelesi Bulikiobo showed her winning style after clocking 24.52s to win gold.
Fiji’s Paulini Korowaqa clocked 25.07s to win the silver medal while Anameli Nakukitu managed bronze in a time of 25.33s.
Athletics Fiji coach Albert Miller was a happy man after the events.
“Whenever we win any medals, it is always a bonus for us. I’m happy with the results and hopefully we keep going like this and win more medals tomorrow (today),” he said.
“We have been known for doing clean sweeps and our last one was back in 2003 SPG. It’s nice to see that our athletes have done that again.”
Fiji look to bag four golds in the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay events today. - Rashneel Kumar: Cook Islands News
Last Modified on 27/09/2009 07:34