Kaila! News: Naiteqe wins lone gold

Listen to this article:

Ilisoni Naiteqe of Dilkusha High School with his gold medal after winning the intermediate boys high jump. Picture: JOVESA NAISUA

THE victory was a lot sweeter for Dilkusha Methodist High School’s gold medal winner Ilisoni Naiteqe as he was the only athlete representing his school at the Coca-Cola Games.
The 17-year-old had broken the record for the intermediate boys high jump event during the Triple N Zone last month after jumping a height of 2.1 metres.
And even though the lad did not achieve his personal best at the Fiji Finals, he still managed to win a gold medal for his school.
Naiteqe’s leap of 1.86m secured his position for the gold medal.
He said he was slightly disappointed that he could not surpass his personal best but was still overjoyed with the outcome.
Winning his first gold medal at a national meet was a special achievement as this was also his first time at annual finals.
“Before the zone meets, I had gone through some challenges with the training equipment because there wasn’t any facilities at school,” he said.
The Year-12 student had to travel to Suva Grammar School to use their facilities daily before making his way back to his home in Naitasiri every evening.
“I also had a leg injury the week before the final, but despite all that, I was able to win gold for my school,” he said.
This year will be his final year in high school as he plans to attend a flight school in Nadi next year.

 

  • The Fiji Times produces Kaila!, the only newspaper for students and young adults in the region. Kaila! is an international award winning newspaper and is printed as an insert in The Fiji Times Wednesday editions.
Array
(
    [post_type] => post
    [post_status] => publish
    [orderby] => date
    [order] => DESC
    [update_post_term_cache] => 
    [update_post_meta_cache] => 
    [cache_results] => 
    [category__in] => 1
    [posts_per_page] => 4
    [offset] => 0
    [no_found_rows] => 1
    [date_query] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [after] => Array
                        (
                            [year] => 2023
                            [month] => 12
                            [day] => 28
                        )

                    [inclusive] => 1
                )

        )

)

No Posts found for specific category