People are expected to be captivated by the drama of who’s going to make it to the 2016 Rio Olympics during the Melanesian Athletics Championships, which will officially open today.

Former Oceania Athletics Federation observer Bob Snow strongly believes it will be a good battle between the Pacific Sprint King Banuve Tabaukoro and javelin thrower Leslie Copeland.

“Which one of the two male athletes is going to make it, because they are both neck-to-neck. Banuve has the best time of 10.26 seconds, which on the international scoring table is worth 1118 points. Leslie has the best javelin throw of 81.76m which also worth 1118 points, so they are both identical.

“It’s going to be a real battle in the next few days. Ideally both will get Olympic qualifiers and both will go, but if they don’t reach that standard, and for this weather it will be difficult for them. So how will Athletics Fiji and FASANOC make the decision?” Snow asked.

As for the Fijian women athletes, the competition will see Alesi Finau, Makereta Naulu, Sisilia Seavula and Younis Bese battle head-to-head.

“We will be in a lot of excitement and we will see which of the Coca-Cola athletes manage to improve on their earlier year form and give the real indication that they are ready for the next level and be good Fiji senior athletes.”

Snow believes the Australians will be dominant in the competition, but he also expects good competition from Pacific Island teams.

“I expect that the Australian team will be the most dominant. They are a very strong team with lots of athletes who are just knocking on the door for important selection and this is a significant chance for them to show the selectors back in their home country.

“I’m very excited to see a lot of good athletes from the Melanesian Countries to come together since the Pacific Games last year.

“It will be a chance for us to look at the Fiji team as they are in a rebuilding process and it’s a chance to see some of the up-and-coming stars from other countries and see if they keep a good level from last year,” Snow said.

Edited by Jonathan Bryce

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