Pacific Sprint King Banuve Tabakaucoro has failed to qualify for the semifinals of the 15th IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.

Tabakaucoro started off well in the preliminary round of the 100 metres finishing first with a time of 10.50 seconds.

This was the second best time recorded in the heats which put him through to the next round.

However, the 22-year-old failed to reach the top three and ended up finishing seventh clocking a time of 10.41 secs.

In first place was Jimmy Vicaut from France with a time of 9.92 secs, followed by Andre de Grasse from Canada (9.99) and Jak Ali Harvey from Turkey (10.04).

Shop N Save Athletics Fiji chief development officer Joseph Rodan (Jnr) said Tabakaucoro can still qualify for the Rio Olympics next year in Brazil.

“It is unfortunate that Banuve could not meet the qualifying time of 10.16 secs, but that does not mean it is the end of the road for him,” Rodan said.

“There are two ways in which Banuve can still qualify and firstly that is taking part in any recognised international meet and qualifying before the cut off date for Rio entries.

“He has a lot of events coming up such as the Melanesian Games, Australia Championship, Pacific Invitational and Mt SAC relays in the USA.

“If he participates and meets the required time he can qualify for Rio. The other way in which he can qualify is from a wildcard.

“Now it is the off-season and the season will start up again around February and March, so Banuve will have a lot of time to prepare and train hard before the season starts up again next year.”

Rodan said Tabakaucoro would have a tough time qualifying for Rio, especially when other athletes would be vying for a spot.

“But that should be a boost for him to train and prepare himself; this will actually push him to clock a better time.

“But for us now, we are focusing on the Melanesian Games in July and regain our dominance in the Pacific region.

“There is no sense in going overseas and competing and wanting to be the best when we are not the best in our Pacific region. Right now Papua New Guinea holds that title,” he said.

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