Pacific team ends 2024 Paris Olympics with a silver medal

Fiji ranked 74th, the United States topped the medal table

The Olympics closed in Paris on Monday morning (NZ time) with the Pacific winning just one silver medal, from the Fiji men’s rugby sevens team, who lost to France in the final.

Fiji tied for 74th place in the medal table with Cyprus, Jordan, Mongolia and Panama, with the latter four nations all winning a silver medal.

The United States and China each won 40 gold medals, but the United States topped the list with 44 silver medals. The United States won a total of 126 medals.

China won 27 silver medals and a total of 91 medals.

Australia was the best Oceania team in the medal table, winning 18 gold medals, 19 silver medals and 16 bronze medals.

The host French team won 16 gold medals and a total of 64 medals, ranking fifth.

New Zealand won 10 golds, 7 silvers and 3 bronze medals, ranking 11th.

Fiji’s Traill turns to coaching career after Olympic debut

Fijian taekwondo athlete Venetia Terrell said the Paris Olympics would be her last international competition.

Terrell, competing in her Olympic debut on Sunday night, lost 2-0 to Britain’s Rebecca McGowan in the round of 16 in the women’s over-67kg category.

She told FBC Sport in Paris she would turn her focus to coaching the sport in Fiji.

She said: “I hope to be able to coach and manage Taekwondo after returning to my country.”

“There are programs out there that can help me achieve that goal. I’m excited to go back and share everything I’ve learned.”

Terrell told ONOC Media she was grateful for all the support she had received throughout her journey.

“I met a lot of people in the run-up to the Olympics and at the Olympics,” she said.

“This is not the end. I will now focus on helping to grow the sport of taekwondo in my hometown.

“I’ve experienced what it’s like to compete at this level, and I want to help other athletes get to the Olympics.”

Despite not achieving the desired results, Terrell is determined to better prepare athletes for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics through her contribution to grassroots taekwondo in Fiji.

“I know my body and I know what’s expected of us,” she said.

“I know we didn’t get the results we wanted but I have the knowledge and will go back to coach the younger athletes. Fiji will come back stronger at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.”

Terrell was one of the Pacific Island athletes competing that night.

Fellow Fijian Lolohea Naitasi, 17, competed in the women’s 67kg round of 16.

Also making her debut, she lost 0-2 to Julyana Alsadeq of Jordan.

But ONOC Media said Naitasi “put up a valiant fight but was ultimately defeated”.

Although Naitasi lost to Al Sadek, she was still proud of her performance.

“It’s amazing,” she told ONOC Media.

“I love the support from my Oceania family and it’s been an incredible experience. I’m thrilled and happy to be here. This is the best match I’ve played in my entire career.

“The crowd was very supportive and I felt very warm. I was nervous when I stepped onto the field, but when I heard the cheers and support, I told myself to enjoy the game and do my best.”

Like any first-time Olympic athlete, Naitahi admitted she was nervous.

Gibson Kaogo Mara of Papua New Guinea competes against Kasra Mehdipourne of the Refugee Olympic Team in the men’s over-80kg qualifying round.

Mara won the first round and then Mehdipourne won the next two rounds to take the victory.

Mara is the second male taekwondo athlete to represent Papua New Guinea at the Olympics, following Maxemillion Kassman in 2016.

Lift Mix Results

In the weightlifting competition, Samoan strongman Don Opeloge had a disappointing performance, ending the challenge without lifting any weight in the 102kg snatch competition.

Opelogie failed to lift 170kg in three attempts and was disqualified.

He previously won gold in the 96kg category at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and a silver medal in the men’s 85kg category at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Although the results were not what he had hoped for, Opelogie told ONOC Media that he is determined to train harder.

He commented: “I will never forget this experience, but it is what it is.”

He apologized to the Samoan people, his family and his coaching staff for his unexpected performance.

“I felt strong. Everything was good in the warm-up,” he said.

“I just don’t know what happened and I’m so sorry,” Opelog explained.

But his training partner and Samoan teammate Iuniarra Sipaia finished 11th in the +81kg category.

She is the last Pacific athlete to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Sipaya lifted a total of 265 kg.

Despite her hip injury, Sipaya told ONOC Media she is determined to represent her country.

The 31-year-old finished the competition with 105 kg in the snatch and 141 kg in the clean and jerk.

In addition to competing, she also has the honor of being Samoa’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I’m thrilled. It feels good. I just tried my best,” she said.

It was really hard for me. I injured my hip and it affected my right knee, but I wanted to make my country proud.”

Although she didn’t achieve a personal best like she had in previous competitions, Sipaya was excited for the opportunity to compete in her first Olympics.

“I’m grateful that I dealt with the injury. Thank you to everyone at home who supported me – my family and those who came here,” she added.

Vanuatu’s Aja Pritchard Lolo also made history on Saturday night, becoming the country’s first female weightlifter to compete in the Olympics.

The 23-year-old competed in the women’s 81kg category and finished 11th with a total of 197kg.

Also expected to medal was Fijian weightlifter Eileen Cikamatana of Australia, who finished fourth in the women’s 81kg category.

She told the media she was disappointed with her performance.

“I did well in the snatch but failed in the clean and jerk,” she said.

“The coaches did a good job choosing the weights and they knew what to do, but it was just me. I wasn’t performing and I wasn’t lifting what I was supposed to.

“It’s definitely disappointing not to be on the podium. But that’s the way it is – we have good days and we have bad days. Today was just a bad day, especially in the clean and jerk. Today was not my good day.”

“We worked really hard to get to where we are today. But that’s life, I can’t say too much… I didn’t do it.”

Tongan weightlifter David Liti of New Zealand also failed to make it past the mark in the weightlifting competition.