Prince’s first for school

WINNING the first gold for Suva Grammar School in the boys division at the 2018 Coca-Cola Games was a wonderful and unexpected experience for Ratu Meli Ro Muakalou Junior.
The Lion Prince, as he is commonly known to his peers, defied all odds and secured gold in the junior boys 400 metres with a time of 50.41seconds last Friday ahead of Karalo Dalikula of Holy Cross College who won silver and Mikaele Rokovatu of Saint John’s College who won the bronze medal.
“I didn’t expect this because most of the time I’ve just been playing around,” he said.
The 16-year-old, who hails from Nakorosule in Naitasiri, thanked his coach for pushing him to the limit and also his training partner.
“I would like to thank my coach and especially my training partner Kevueli Sauvakacolo who has always encouraged me to run faster than before,” Ro Muakalou said.
He also attributed his golden win to his family, old students and the Suva Grammar family for their support, kindness, love and respect towards him.
Ro Muakalou who also ran in the same event last year as a first-timer in the junior grade and was unplaced said he was satisfied and happy with his performance.
He said what encouraged him to go for gold was the fact that their goal as a team was to get the first gold medal from his teammate, George Simpson, a sub junior runner who won a silver medal in the 400m in his grade.
“When he did not win gold, it actually encouraged me to win a gold medal because we haven’t won a gold medal yet.”
He also went on to win gold in the junior boys 200m final on Saturday with a time of 22.56sec and helped his 4x400m relay team win silver on the final day of the competition.