Pacific Athletes Competing Today at Olympics
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THE OLYMPICS ARE OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY! 14 Pacific Island Nations take to the global stage over the next two weeks. We'll keep this page updated every day as Athletes representing the Moana compete. Here's the line-up of all the Pasifika athletes competing at the Olympics! ๐ฅ๐๐บ
Day 15
Taekwondo
Two athletes representing the Pacific will be competing in today's scheduled Taekwondo match-up. Papua New Guinea's Gibson Mara goes up against Kasra Mehdipournejad of the Refugee Olympic Team, their matchup will commence 10th August 7:00pm NZST (10th August 2:00am CT, USA).
Fiji's Venice Traill will compete against Great Britain's Rebecca McGowan later tonight at 10:00pm NZST (5:00am CT, USA)
Weightlifting
There are also two Pasifika athletes competing in the Weightlifting event. Commonwealth record holder Don Opeloge will be competing for Samoa in the Men's 102kg division, set to commence 9:30pm NZST (4:30am CT, USA).
Ajah Pritchard-Lolo will be carrying the hopes of Vanuatu as she competes in the Women's 81kg division, scheduled to start 11th August 2:00am NZST (10th August, 9:00am CT, USA)
Wrestling
Japan national champion Gaku Akazawa will bear the flag of Samoa as he competes in the Men's Freestyle 68kg division. He is set to go up against Albania's Islam Dudaev 10th August 10:00pm NZST (10th August 5:00am CT, USA)
Day 13
Canoe Sprint
Raina Taitingfong represents her home of Guam for the second time at the Paris 2024 Olympics, this time competing in the Women's Canoe 200m Sprint. Heats are set to take place 8th August 8:30pm NZST (8th August 3:30am CT, USA)
Taekwondo
Papua New Guinea's Kevin Kassman will be competing tonight in the Men's Taekwondo -68kg division. He is scheduled to go up against Great Britain's Bradly Sinden in the inaugural 'Round of 16' 9:00pm NZST (4am CT, USA)
Wrestling
Guam's Rckaela Aquino will take to the mat tonight in the Women's Wrestling -59kg division. She is set to throw down against Brazil's Giullia Penalber at 9:56pm NZST (4:56am CT, USA)
Weightlifting
Marshall Islands weightlifter Mattie Sasser will be competing in the Women's Weightlifting 59kg division, scheduled to commence 9th August 1:00am NZST (8th August 8:00am CT, USA)
Day 12
Canoe Sprint
Three athletes from the Moana will be competing in the Canoe Sprints event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Raina Taitingfong of Guam will be competing with Samoa's Samalulu Clifton in the Women's Kayak 500m. Samalulu Clifton's brother Tuva'a is also representing Samoa at the Games, where he will compete in the Men's Kayak 1000m. The Women's heats begin 7th August 7:30pm NZST (7th August 2:30am CT).
The Men's heats begin just a little while later at 8:40pm NZST (3:40am CT)
Wrestling
Guam's Mia Aquino is competing in the Women's Wrestling -53kg division. She throws down against China's Qianyu Pang at 9:56pm NZST (4:56am CT)
Athletics
Cook Islands runner Alex Beddoes hopes to do his country proud when he competes in the Men's 800m, with heats scheduled to begin at 9:55pm NZST (4:55am CT)
Weightlifting
Three athletes are also representing the Pacific today as the Weightlifting kicks off. Kaimauri Erati of Kiribati and Morea Baru of Papua New Guinea are competing in the Men's -61kg division, set to commence 8th August 1:00am NZST (7th August 8:00am CT). Nicola Lagatao will be representing Guam in the Women's -49kg division, which is set to begin a couple hours later at 5:30am NZST (12:30pm CT)
Day 10
Discus Throw
Only one athlete representing the Pasifika will be competing today, as Samoa's Alex Rose gets ready to compete in the Men's Discus Throw in his third Olympic Games appearance. He will be in Group B of the Qualifying Round, scheduled to commence 5th August 9:35pm NZST (5th August 4:35am Central Time in the USA)
Day 8
Swimming
The swimming events continue at the 2024 Paris Olympics, with the heats of the Women's 50m Freestyle 3rd August 9pm NZST (3rd August 4am Central Time in the USA). Here are all the Pasifika athletes competing!
Anahira McCutcheon - Fiji
Kayla Hepler - Marshall Islands
Yuri Hosei - Palau
Georgia-Leigh Vele - Papua New Guinea
Kaiya Brown - Samoa
Noelani Day - Tonga
Loane Russett - Vanuatu
Kestra Kihleng - Federated States of Micronesia
Isabella Millar - Solomon Islands
Athletics (100m Sprint)
The Men's 100m Sprint event kicks off one day after the Women's started, with 8 athletes representing the Moana taking to the track. Preliminary heats get underway 3rd August 8:35pm NZST (3:35am Central)
Waisake Tewa - Fiji
William Reed - Marshall Islands
Winzar Kakiouea - Nauru
Maleselo Fufofuka - Nauru
Karalo Maibuca - Tuvalu
Scott Fiti - Federated States of Micronesia
Joseph Green - Guam
Kenaz Kaniwete - Kiribati
Day 7
Judo
Judo continues on at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where in the Men's +100kg division Fiji's Gerard Takayawa will face off against Slovakia's Marius Fizel, their match is scheduled to take place at 8:24pm 2nd August NZST (3:24am 2nd August Central Time in the USA)
Athletics (100m Sprint)
A number of Pasifika athletes take to the track at the Olympics athletics events get underway. Scheduled for tonight is the Women's 100m Sprints firing off at 8:25pm 2nd August NZST (3:25am Central). Here are our athletes!
Boxing
Australia's Teremoana Teremoana (who is of Cook Islands descent) is looking to add to Australia's medal tally in the Men's +92kg division, as he progresses to the Quarter Finals where he will face off against Uzbekistan's Bakhodir Jalolov. Their match is scheduled to take place in the early hours of the 3rd August 3:54am NZST (2nd August 10:54am Central)
Day 6
Swimming
The Men's 50m freestyle goes off tonight at Day 6 of the Paris 2024 Olympics, with three Pasifika athletes set to compete. David Young (Fiji), Phillip Kinono (Marshall Islands), and Jion Hosei (Palau) are all looking to put forward strong performances as preliminary heats get underway.
Heats are scheduled to start a little past 9:15pm 1st August (4:15am 1st August Central Time in the USA)
Sailing
Fiji and Samoa have representatives in the Men's and Women's category for Olympic Sailing, which are scheduled to begin today with two races every day for the next five days.
Viliame Ratulu and Eroni Leilua take to the water Fiji and Samoa respectively in the Men's Category, set to begin 10:15pm 1st August (5:15am Central),
Sophia Morgan and Vaimo'oi'a Ripley also for Fiji and Samoa respectively are competing in the Women's Category, set to begin 1:35am 2nd August (8:35am 1st August Central)
Day 5
Triathlon
A bit of a quiet day on the Pacific front at the Olympics, as only one athlete representing the Moana will be competing today. Guam's Manami Ijima is set to compete in the Women's Triathlon today, scheduled to commence 31 July, 6:00pm (31 July, 1:00am Central Time in the USA)
Surfing
Today's surfing events have been postponed due to weather concerns. Vahine Fierro (of Tahitian descent) is representing France and will look to build on her momentum after winning her first heat.
Day 4
Judo
Hugo Cumbo will be representing Vanuatu in the Men's Judo -81kg division where he faces Frank De Wit of The Netherlands. They are scheduled to compete 30th July, 9:12pm NZST (30th July, 4:12am Central in the USA)
Swimming
The Men's 100m Freestyle kicks off today, with three athletes representing the Pacific set to compete. Josh Tarere of Papua New Guinea, Johann Stickland of Samoa and Johnathan Silas represeting Vanuatu. Heats are set to start just a little past 9:15pm 30th July NZST (4:15am Central)
Rugby Sevens
The Fiji Rugby Sevens take to the stage for their final game of the Olympics, where they go up against South Africa to determine the 11th-12th place rankings. Kick off is scheduled for 2:30am 31July NZST (9:30AM 30th July Central)
Day 3
Judo
Judoka take to the mat today and among them are three athletes representing the Pacific. Maria Escano of Guam and Nera Tiebwa of Kiribati are both competing in the Women's -57kg division. Escano throws against Guinea's Mariana Esteves 29th July 8:18pm NZST (29th July, 3:18am Central Time in the USA)
Nera Tiebwa looks to make her island nation proud when she goes up against Ukraine's Daria Bilodid straight after at 8:30pm NZST (3:30am Central)
Samoa's William Tai Tin faces Tanzania's Andrew Thomas Mlugu in the Men's -73kg division, they face off 29th July, 8:54pm NZST (3:54am Central)
Swimming
The Olympic swimming events continue Alan Uhi representing the Kingdom of Tonga in the Men's 100m backstroke. Heats kick off at 9:00pm NZST, with Uhi scheduled to take to the pools at around 9:40pm NZST (4:40AM Central)
Table Tennis
Vicky Wu will be carrying Fiji's flag in the Men's Table Tennis series. He takes on Great Britain's Liam Pitchford at 11:00pm NZST (6:00am Central)
Rugby Sevens
The Fiji Women's Rugby Sevens take to the field again in their final pool match against New Zealand in the early hours of the 30th July, at 2:30am NZST (29th July, 9:30am Central)
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Day 2
Swimming
Lanihei Connolly of the Cook Islands hits the pools today, both competing in the Women's 100m breastroke. Heats begin on the 28th July, 9pm NZST (28th July, 4am Central Time in the USA)
Boxing
Samoan Heavyweight boxer Ato Plodzicki-Faoagali hits the ring in the early hours of the 29th July, at 2:02am NZST (28th July 9:02am Central) against Belgian boxer Victor Schelstraete.
Rugby Sevens
The Fiji Women's Rugby Sevens team aim to follow suit the Men's performance at the 2024 Olympic Games, as their pool games kick off as they take on Canada and China at 3:30am and 7:00am respectively (10:30am and 2:00pm Central in the USA)
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Day 1
Swimming
American Samoa's Micah Masei is competing in the Men's 100m Breastroke as well as Tasi Limtiaco of the Federated States of Mirconesia, where the heats kick off on the 27th July, 9pm NZST (27th July, 4am Central Time in the USA)
Rugby Sevens
Some disciplines, including the Men's Rugby Sevens, started before the official Opening Ceremony of the Games.
Fiji have secured a place in the Semi-Finals continuing their undefeated streak at the Olympics, they go up against Australia 28th July, 2am NZST (27th July, 9am Central Time in the USA).
Samoa follows soon after, where they face off against Kenya for 9th position at 3am NZST (10am Central Time in the USA)
The Bronze and Gold Medal deciders will also be held, at 5am and 5:45am respectively (12pm Central)
Table Tennis
Priscilla Tommy will be representing Vanuatu in the Women's category, competing in Day 1's preliminary 'Round of 64.' Tommy goes up against Amy Wang of the USA at early Sunday morning, 28th July 6am NZST (1pm Central Time in the USA)
Boxing
Tonga first female boxer, Fe'ofa'aki Epenisa, will take to the ring in her first Olympic bout against Vietnam's Thi Linh Ha in the Women's 60kg division preliminary 'Round of 32' at 2:18am 28th July NZST (9:18am 27th July Central Time in the USA)
John Ume of Papua New Guinea is competing in the Men's 63.5kg division, taking on Cuba's Erislandy Alvarez Borges in the preliminary 'Round of 32'. Their match is scheduled to take place later on that day at 7:36am (2:36pm Central Time in the USA)
- Written by Arts & Culture Journalist Destiny Momoiseฤ
made with the help of Creative New Zealand