Marist Brothers High School senior athlete Mustafa Fall (second from right), receives his Best Male Athlete Award from the Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Rosy Akbar at the the ANZ Stadium, Suva, Photo: Rama
National athletics rep Mustafa Fall wants more people to participate in shot put so that it could become competitive.
Fall made the comment after he unofficially broke the national record during the Shop N Save Athletics Fiji Grand Prix Series second round of competition at Churchill Park, Lautoka yesterday.
He threw 15.82metres to beat the national record of 15.74m.
Athletics Fiji chief development officer Joe Rodan Jnr said they are going to verify the result before giving an official statement.
Fall told SUNsports that there is hardly any competition for him locally.
“It is my aim to always try to do better and break my own record,” he said.
“To be honest there is not much athletes here who participate in shot put so there is not much competition. Though it is good that I get to participate internationally, we still need more people to get involved in the sport.
“We are not all the same, we all have different interests, if I can represent Fiji so can anyone.”
Fall added that shot put should be promoted right to the grassroots.
“Schools should be the place where we can build up the athletes. With proper training, good techniques and expert coaches at that level, more upcoming athletes can really do well in this sport,” he added.
BUILD UP
Rodan said these competitions would prepare athletes for international competitions.
“School teams need to make use of this opportunity and use it as a build- up for their athletics career. “Hiding the athletes is a thing of the past but by exposing them to this type of competition they will be able to learn from qualified coaches. Once they enter into the Coca-Cola Games we would have already know what they are capable of.”
Rodan said the competition has exposed a lot of young athletes who are very much interested in furthering their sporting career.
“Competition has increased over the years, so it’s best for these athletes to monitor their progress and even the slightest technical change can make a difference.”
Rodan said best outstanding performance came from Aaron Powell in the open men’s 100m race with a time of 10.3sec, Samu Railoa in the 400m with 48.4 sec and Fall with his unofficial throw of 15.82, Eleina Young in the women’s 200m and Eugene Volmer in the triple jump event.
Edited by Leone Cabenatabua
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