OLYMPICS – Pacific islands athletes are tipped to win the region’s first Olympic gold medal over the next fortnight.

It’s been 20 years since Tongan boxer Paea Wolfgramm made the Pacific’s first and, to date, only indent on the Olympic Games medal tally.

But that looks set to change with World Series Sevens champions Fiji favourites to claim gold in rugby sevens – with both the men’s and women’s Fiji squads going into the competition with very high hopes.

The women’s side play their opening pool match on Sunday morning and Fijiana coach Chris Cracknell believes they can create history.

“It’s been on my mind for a couple of months now really. That pressure I don’t think has been put on the girls because I don’t think people at home have really twigged.

“ I think lot of the pressure is on the boys – but you know the girls could definitely be the first team to win a medal and that’s the whole reason why we’re going there, and I fully believe that this group of girls have the ability to do that.”

“There is a realistic chance of our champion national sevens rugby team winning a medal,” Joseph Rodan, the president of the Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committe , said.

“If we succeed we become the second country in the region to win an Olympic medal. The first was Tonga in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games where it won silver after Paea Wolfgramm lost to Vladimir Klitschko of Ukraine in the final of the super heavyweight boxing competition.”

Rodan knows very well how tough it is to win a medal in an Olympic Game.

As a sprint athlete he gave his best for Fiji in both the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics .

Tonga is pinning its medal hopes on Taewkwondo athlete Pita Taufatofua who was chosen as Tonga’s flagbearer for the opening ceremony at the Maracana Stadium last night.

After winning gold at the Oceania Qualifying Tournament in March the 32-year-old talked up his medal chances in Rio.

“One of the things I learnt from this whole experience is that the only way to succeed or achieve anything is to have absolute belief that you will, “ Taufatofua said.

“I have no doubt in my mind when I get on the mats I’m not going to leave anything behind and I have absolutely no doubt that I will be in medal contention.

“As soon as I stop believing that there’s no need for me to go to the Olympics.”

In track and field, Samoa’s Jeremy Dodson will be up against the likes of Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt and American sprint king Justin Gatlin in one of the Olympic glamour events, the men’s 200 metres.

The 28-year-old was born and bred in the United States but says he’s been overwhelmed by the support from the Samoan island community and is hoping to repay that faith on the track.

“The whole goal is to make the finals and when I get to the finals I hope to just let it all go and have fun and shock the world,” Dodson said.

“My best time is 20.07 seconds but I ran that in 2011 so it’s been some time. I would say anything under 20.2 seconds will be a solid bet to get you through the rounds and hopefully in semi finals.

“I do want to hit or hopefully break the 20 second barrier and push myself into finals and hopefully give me the confidence to compete for a medal.”

Rio will also mark the Olympic swansong for one of the Pacific’s most successful athletes.

Papua New Guinea swimmer Ryan Pini retired after the London Games in 2012 but returned to the pool for last year’s Pacific Games in Port Moresby, where he won seven gold medals.

The 34-year-old will swim his favoured 100 metres butterfly event at his fourth and final Olympics and is hoping to make the semi finals.

“I sort of look at last year at what made the semi final and that was 52.2 seconds so it’s about half a second faster than what I’ve been this year so far,” Pini said.

“I don’t think that will make the semi final this year so I will have to be quicker if I want to do that – probably around the 52 flat or 51.9 – and that’s sort of closer to what I have been eight years ago now, that seems like a long time ago, making the final for the Olympics in Beijing.”

Archers Arne Jensen and Karoline Tatafu will be the first Tongan athletes in action at the Rio Olympics today.

The pair qualified at the Oceania Championships in Nuku’alofa in April.

The 18-year-olds will compete in the men’s and women’s individual ranking rounds.

President of Samoa’s Olympic committee, Fepulea’i Patrick Fepulea’i, said all hopes are on Samoa’s weightlifters to bring home some good news from the Rio Olympics.

“It’s a pity that our sevens boys did not qualify for the Olympics because we had the biggest chance to win a medal through them,” he said.

“Our only real strengths are weightlifting and sevens so now it’s just down to the weightlifters who have the best chance.So hopefully Mary Opeloge and Nevo Ioane will bring us a medal this time round.”

Coach Tuaopepe Jerry Wallwork said their aim is just the same as everyone else who will be competing in the Olympics.

“We have an aim, to win a medal. That is our aim for the Olympics and it’s not easy but there is a slight chance, but it won’t be easy.”

Meanwhile the Fiji men’s football team were the first Pacific athletes to compete in Rio on Friday morning – but found the going tough in a 8-0 drubbing by Korea.

- PNC sources