Sorovaki: Back To The Drawing Board

It’s back to the drawing board for our athletes and coaches, says Team Fiji chef de mission Sale Sorovaki.

He made the comment while wrapping up Team Fiji’s campaign at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

Team Fiji finished the Games with four medals – two silver medals from the Fijian men’s and women’s 7s teams. The bronze medals are from men’s weightlifter Taniela Rainibogi and para-athlete Naibili Vatunisolo. Several sports missed out on the bronze medal playoffs.

“There were a number of sports that got into medal contention and just missed out on that last push,” So­rovaki said.

“I hope they’ve learned from it. For us we can only improve if we go back to the drawing board and review our performance and prepare well.”

Sorovaki also said that moving from one game venue to another was a challenge.

“We found it tough, especially when it’s divided into three towns, but we managed to get to where we wanted to be,” he said.

“If there were any challenges, we would find out from the team managers, but opportunities were there for athletes to win a medal, improve their time or further their distance. We couldn’t ask for more, the team had an enjoyable time at the Commonwealth Games. The athletes have done the best they can.”

This was Sorovaki’s first assign­ment as chef de mission.

“I enjoyed it but trying to get to all the venues, which were spread all over Birmingham was a challenge itself. Otherwise, I’ve had an enjoy­able Games and I’m happy for the athletes,” he said.

“To the fans, we hope that you have enjoyed watching the games staying up very late or waking up very early. The expectation may have been or fallen short, there’s al­ways going to be support to a Fijian team wherever they play.”

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