Fiji sprinter opts out of Olympics

FIJI – Fiji sprinter Banuve Tabakaucoro made a tough and courageous decision to pull out of the Rio Olympics, according the country’s Chef de Mission Cathy Wong.

The 23-year-old has been plagued by injury in recent months and did not run a successful qualifying time for Rio.

The Pacific Games 100m and 200m champion won gold in both events at the Melanesian Athletics Championships in Suva last weekend.

He set a new Fiji national record of 10.20 seconds in the 100m final but failed to meet the Olympic qualifying time of 10.16 seconds. He clocked 21.12 seconds in the 200m final, 0.38 seconds shy of the qualifying time for Rio. Tabakaucoro was offered a universality place in Brazil but opted to turn down the chance to represent his country because he did not qualify on merit. Wong says has made a difficult decision and they respect that: “His goal in life was to qualify on merit – and failing that he felt that if he didn’t qualify on merit he did not feel that he was right and ready to go to the Olympics this time.” - Fiji Times