IT was a case of David meeting Goliath.
When the Yasayasa Moala College athletes saw Pacific sprint king Banuve Tabakaucoro at National Stadium tracks during training last week, they were left gaping in awe.
It was the first time for Kalougata Delailoa and Nicoles Korovulavula to see the reigning Coca-Cola Games senior boys 100 and 200 metres champion face to face.
Their coach Iliesa Draunidalo said both of them were nervous and took couple of minutes to come to terms with the "pleasant surprise."
Marist Brothers High School athlete Tabakaucoro, who trains at the National Stadium track every evening, is the top bet for the blue ribbon title at the annual secondary schools athletics competition on Friday.
"I took them for their first training on the (artificial) tracks at the Stadium last Thursday and when they saw Banuve, they were so nervous," Draunidalo said.
"I told them not to worry about other athletes, just focus on themselves and on the Games. I think they were just stunned to see him in person. Banuve is a champion athlete."
Yasayasa Moala is making its return to the Coca-Cola Games after lapse of almost two decades.
They have brought in only two athletes in Delailoa and Korovulavula, who will be participating in junior and intermediate boys 200 and 400m races respectively.
Draunidalo said the students back in their school did not take athletics seriously.
But he hoped Delailoa and Korovulavula would return home as good ambassadors of the Games, encouraging their colleagues to take part in athletics.
"We train for almost two and half months for the Fiji finals. We don't have a proper track back in the island so we use the beach to train these athletes," Draunidalo said.
"We also lack the basic training program currently used at the international level because we don't have a PEMAC (Physical Education) teacher at our school.
"The teachers (from different disciplines) impart whatever knowledge they have on the sport to help these athletes."
Draunidalo said they had set a long-term plan for their athletics team and hopes to return with more athletes next year.
"We just want these two athletes to get the experience and share that with the other students back in school to motivate them to take athletics seriously," he said.
"We don't believe in quantity but in quality and we know through the help of God, we will do well."
Meanwhile, Delailoa and Korovulavula did well at the Maritime Zone yesterday, winning three gold and a silver medal for their school.