Kiribati’s Lataisi Mwea on his #PacificAusSports journey to #Tokyo2020 Olympics

Track and field athlete Lataisi Mwea will be representing Kiribati at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games.

Thanks to support from #PacificAusSports the 20-year old has been able to live, train and compete in Australia in preparation for the games and will become one of a very small but deserving group of athletes to have represented the pacific island nation at an Olympic Games.

Speaking earlier this month from the Oceania Invitational Event in Australia, Lataisi was delighted his dream was coming to fruition.

“It means a lot because I’ve wanted this since I was 17 and I’ve been training a lot just to get this. I have sacrificed a lot of stuff and I’m really happy that it worked out.”

“It really means lot that I am participating in the Olympics because it’s a dream come true.”

“Each and every time I participate in a competition I would like to get a PB (personal best), something which is exciting.”

“I started (track and field) at around 2015 at the high school event back in my country and I fell in love with it and started doing it more,” Mwea said.

“I’m really grateful for PacificAus Sports and DFAT for supporting me to stay in Australia and train."

Through PacificAus Sports, the Australian government and the Australian Olympic Committee will support over 170 Olympic and Paralympic athletes from eleven Pacific nations to prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Specifically, the partnership will support an estimated 150 Olympic athletes from the Pacific Island nations of Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu to secure a spot on their respective Olympic Games’ teams.

An additional twenty Paralympic athletes will represent Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, PNG, Kiribati, Samoa and Tonga at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

A Youtube feature on Lataisi can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0MNbkBlfj8