Papua New Guinea weightlifter Baru finishes fifth, Pacific Island athletes look to make their mark at Paris 2024

Pacific weightlifters all finished in the top eight in their respective events in Paris on Thursday.

Papua New Guinea’s Morea Baru finished an incredible fifth in the men’s 61kg category.

His snatch weight was 118 kg, and his clean and jerk weight was 161 kg, for a total of 279 kg.

It was his third top-10 finish at an Olympics, following 10th place at Tokyo 2020 and sixth at Rio 2016.

Baru told the PNG team media that despite missing out on a medal, he was happy with his performance.

“Even though I didn’t do well in the snatch, I knew I had to go all out in the clean and jerk to do well,” he said.

“I’m really happy that I completed all three events in the clean and jerk. After the competition, looking at my ranking, I knew that it was the result of all my hard work and sacrifices.

Coach Willie Tamassi said the lifer had given it his all.

“This is a huge achievement for Moriah and the country overall,” he said.

“Even though the snatch result was unexpected, we had to make sure he got three hits in the clean and jerk to put him in a good position.

“Moriah has really fought hard and he’s had an amazing run so far and has tried to stay in the top five and we are very proud of him.”

Fiji weightlifting coach Henry Elder congratulated Morea and praised the lifter’s performance as “excellent”.

“Wow, this has to be one of my highlights of the Paris Olympics,” Elder said on his Facebook account.

“One of our brothers made it to the top five at the Olympics. It means so much, it’s the biggest stage in sport and we got to see our Papua New Guinean brothers shine at the competition. So proud of you, Moki! It’s been a tough journey.”

Meanwhile, Kemari Elati of Kiribati was seventh in the same event.

The 20-year-old lifted a total of 220kg, including 100kg in the snatch and 120kg in the clean and jerk.

Guam’s Nicola Velasco Lagatao finished 11th in the women’s 49kg category at the Paris South Arena.

She lifted 59 kg in the snatch and 77 kg in the clean and jerk.

Ross calls experience ‘unreal’

Samoa’s Alex Ross said it “felt unreal” to reach the final of the men’s discus throw at the Paris Olympics, despite finishing only 12th in Thursday morning’s competition.

When Rose stepped into the discus final at the Paris Olympics, he felt a great sense of significance.

“Even before my last throw, I walked into the ring and was like, ‘Oh my god, this is unreal,’ ” Ross told News 8 .

“I was at the Olympics and I could hear everybody cheering. It was the loudest and best venue I’ve ever been to. When I threw the ball, I was lucky enough to hear people cheering. It was unreal.”

His throwing score was 61.89 meters.

Ross lives in Grand Rapids, but represents his father’s native Samoa.

“This year I just kept going,” he said. “I’ve never been so exhausted, and I’m 32 years old, but I’m still trying to perform at a high level.”

“But I’ve never thrown it as far as I can now. I’ve never qualified for an Olympic final, but this year I did it.

“It’s been fun. I find I’m better at playing under pressure now, but I’m probably not as energetic as I was before. I’m really proud to be in an Olympic final.”

Ross’s first throw was 60.07 meters, but his second throw was better.

His third throw was fouled.

The discus final became a record-breaking night in the discus world.

Jamaican Roje Stona set a new Olympic record, just minutes after Lithuanian Mykolas Alekna did the same.

Jamaican Alekna threw 69.97 meters in the second round and then won the Olympic gold medal with 70.00 meters in the fourth round.

This is not only Jamaica’s first Olympic gold medal in the event, but also Jamaica’s first gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the first Olympic medal of all colors in the men’s discus event at this Olympics.

Matthew Denny of Australia won the bronze medal.

He threw 69.31 meters in the second round to win his first Olympic medal.

Meanwhile, the Oceania National Olympic Committee (ONOC) said Ross had joined a group of Pacific Island discus throwers who have represented their countries at the Olympics.

Fellow Samoan Henry Smith competed in the 1984 Olympics and finished 17th.

The last athlete to represent a Pacific nation in the finals was Fiji’s Mesulame Lakuro, who came 15th in the men’s discus throw at the 1956 Olympics.

Fiji’s Leslie Copeland, who finished 13th at the 2012 London Olympics, dropped to 13th after another athlete was disqualified for illegal doping.

But Copeland did not pitch in the final.

Aquino out in wrestling ring

Guam wrestler Mia Aquino lost in the women’s 53kg freestyle event at the Paris Olympics.

Aquino, competing in her first Olympics in the French capital, lost to 2020 Tokyo silver medalist Pang Qianyu of China

Mia is the third member of the Aquino family to represent Guam at the Olympics, as her older sister, Rekala (wrestling), placed 14th at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Their uncle, Mariano Aquino, also represented Guam in judo at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Clifton siblings represent Samoa

Samoan brother and sister Tuva Clifton and Samalulu Clifton qualified for the quarter-finals of the Paris canoe race on Thursday morning.

Tuva competed in the men’s single canoe 1000m event and advanced to the quarterfinals.

My elder sister Samarulu participated in the women’s single kayak 500m race.

According to ONOC media, Samarulu had previously trained with the New Zealand team but moved to Samoa after being inspired by his brother’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics.

“It was a very difficult decision,” she said of the transition.

“I’ve been paddling for a long time and I’ve really enjoyed training with the New Zealand team. I’ve put in a lot of hard work. Tuva’s performance in Tokyo has really inspired me.”

Meanwhile, Guam’s Raina Taitingfong will also compete in the women’s single kayak 500m quarterfinals.

The Taitingfeng conducts training exercises using a va’a (indigenous canoe) in international waters off Guam.

She will also compete in the women’s single kayak 200m event.