No Medals Expected

The Beijing Olympics marks the first time so many Pacific Island countries and athletes are competing in the world’s largest sports event.

    

Bigger countries in the Pacific, such as Fiji, have been participating in the Olympics since the 1950s, but for smaller countries such as the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, the 2008 Olympic Games marks their debut in the sports extravaganza.

    

This year, 15 Pacific Island countries are participating in the Aug. 8-24 Olympic Games, bringing 66 athletes — significantly more than the 51 athletes who competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics. That’s not only because more countries joined for the first time but because athletes qualified in sports islanders had previously not competed in before, such as kayaking.

   

Members of the Federated States of Micronesia delegation at the Olympic Village, as well as a Chinese assistant, relaxing in the FSM's apartment in the Olympic Village in Beijing.

What’s more, around 40 of the athletes in this Olympics qualified on merit — the most in Island history — while the others are here because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reserves spaces for athletes from small countries who did well in world championships.

   

“We’ve got an increased number of athletes who qualify on merit. We’re not quite there on the medals, but there’s been some terrific performance,” said Robin Mitchell, the only member of the IOC who represents the Pacific Islands.

 

Among the highlights from Pacific Islanders:

 

• Ele Opeloge, from Western Samoa, ranked fourth in the women’s +75kg weightlifting category. She narrowly missed the bronze medal when she dropped the 150 kilogram weights one second too early after feeling a sharp pain in her back. She lost by only one kg to the eventual bronze medal winner. Although disappointed, Opeloge is still the first Samoan who ranked so high in Olympics weightlifting.

 

• Dika Toua, from Papua New Guinea, came in 8^th in the women’s 53kg weightlifting competition.

 

• Ryan Pini, from Papua New Guinea, made it to the finals in the 100 meter men’s butterfly swimming competition, ranking 8^th — that makes him the highest ranked Pacific Island swimmer ever and one of the top 10 in the world. He also broke his personal best record by finishing 51:62 in the semifinals and 51:84 in the finals.

 

• Manuel Minginfel, from the Federated States of Micronesia, came in 11^th in the men’s 62kg weightlifting category, making him the best male weightlifter in the Pacific Islands. He lifted up to 155 kilograms.

 

• Makelesi Bulikiobo Batimala, from Fiji, ranked 24^th in the women’s 400m athletics round, narrowly missing the semifinals.

    

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This year also marks the first time the Pacific Islands gained funding from the IOC and the Oceania National Olympic Committee to provide live broadcast to all nations. The funding helped pay TV New Zealand to provide the feed to any country interested. In the past, only certain countries, such as Fiji, Guam and PNG, enjoyed live broadcasts.

    

For some countries, an estimated 80 percent of households in the capital, where many have cable TV, will be watching their athletes while in other nations, viewers comprised half the population.

   

“This is a breakthrough for us,” said Terry Sasser, secretary general of the Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee. “I called my kids and told them to put the TV on the porch and soon 50 to 60 people were watching and it was 4 a.m.!”      

   

Regardless of which country’s athletes competed, Island athletes turned out in force to cheer for each other. “There’s a lot of mutual support,” Mitchell said.

   

Part of the delegation from the Marshall Islands, making its Olympic debut in Beijing. From left: Chef du Mission Tony Muller, National Olympic Committee Secretary General Terry Sasser, and 100-meter sprinter Roman Cress.

Some countries such as the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu sent only three athletes, while Nauru sent only one, but all the countries felt it was important to be represented the Games and to give their athletes the opportunity to compete with top athletes.

   

 “It’s taken us a quarter of a century to get here,” said Anthony Muller, Chef de Mission for the Marshall Islands delegation.

    

In a sign of their pride, athletes from small countries like Tuvalu proudly entered the Bird’s Nest wearing their culture’s traditional outfits during the Olympics opening ceremony.

    

Athletes, for many of whom it was their first Olympics, said just being here is an unforgettable experience and they simply wanted to do their best.

   

PNG swimming star Pini, for example, felt good that he did much better in this Olympics than his first Olympics in Athens when he was second reserve in the semifinals.

    

“The best thing I think is just knowing I got the whole country behind me,” said the 26 year old, who added that it was also “pretty awesome” to be swimming in the same pool as U.S. gold medalist Michael Phelps, who was just two lanes over.

    

But it took years of hard work, a lot of sacrifice and commitment to get the chance to participate in the Olympics.

    

While Pini is perhaps one of the luckier few as he has sponsorships and financial support from his parents, many athletes come from humble backgrounds, and had to work in full-time jobs or help out on their family’s taro, coconut, pineapple or banana plantations.

    

Missing family gatherings and not being able to help her family out on farming is the biggest regret for Samoan weightlifter Opeloge, who trains six to seven hours a day, even on weekends, putting everything aside for the past two years.

   

“She’s very committed and very focused. You sacrifice everything else, your leisure life, family commitments in order to achieve goals,” said her coach Jeremy Wallwork. “Her family has supported her 100 percent. They left her alone to train. It all contributes to success.”

    

When Opeloge failed to win the bronze, not able to keep the weight up with only one second to go, she was very disappointed, but support from her family poured in.

   

She’ll get only two to three weeks off before she resumes training again for upcoming tournaments.

   

To cheer up disappointed athletes, many of whom can be too hard on themselves, coaches and chefs de mission try to take their minds off the Games and took them to see must-see attractions such as the Great Wall, after the competitions.

    

On the wall, the PNG team of athletes, coaches and others were the top attraction, with more than 100 Chinese tourists taking turns snapping photos with them.

   

The best Olympic achievement by Pacific Island athletes was the silver medal won by Paea Wolfgramm of Tonga in boxing in Atlanta in 1996. With the achievements and experience gained this time, Pacific Islanders are hoping to do even better in the next Olympics.

   

“At this stage, it seems unlikely we’ll be on the medals podium, but we keep competing,” said Mitchell. “Overall we’ve been happy with what’s been achieved. … We’re looking forward to London 2012 where we’ll be hoping to make our mark.”

   

Sebastian Kolhase, chef de mission for Samoa, said he hopes the athletes who competed this time will go to the London Olympics.

    

“With the experience they got this time, we’re hoping they will put this experience to good use next time,” Kolhase said.