Pacific Olympians’ powerful performance at the 2024 Paris Games

The Closing Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics has come to an end, and 104 Pacific Olympians are making their way home after two weeks of spirited competition. The group, described by the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) as the ‘Warriors of Oceania’, undoubtedly made their mark on the Games, clocking up dozens of personal best performances and national records, and a silver medal for the Fijian men’s Rugby Sevens team.

A strong sense of family was on display among Pacific athletes in the final days of competition. The Clifton siblings from Samoa, for example, represented both their family and their country with pride when they took to the water in Kayaking events. Samalulu Clifton made it into the quarter finals of the women’s Single 500m in her first ever Olympics, while her brother Tuva’a, who competed in Tokyo, raced in the quarter finals of the men’s Single 1000m.

The Aquino sisters from Guam continued the Olympic tradition started by their uncle, Mariano Aquino, who competed in Judo at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In Paris, two-time Olympian Rckaela Aquino made it to the finals of the 57kg Freestyle Wrestling. Her older sister, Mia, competing in the women’s 53kg Freestyle Wrestling for her first Olympics, likewise reached her finals – and had the honour of carrying her country’s flag in the Closing Ceremony.

“There’s no stopping for both of us, and I encourage other women and girls in Guam and other Pacific Island countries to try wrestling,” said Mia. "Wrestling is where it’s at, ladies. It brings out confidence and inner strength."

All the way to the finishing line

The Pacific campaign lasted right through to the final day of competition, characterised throughout by courage and accomplishment. Some of the highlights are captured below.

• Having competed in Rio and in Tokyo, Samoa’s Alex Rose achieved a long-held goal in the Paris Games by reaching the finals of the men’s Discus event. His breakthrough performance also made history as the first time Samoa had competed in an athletics final. The result means Alex is now ranked in the top ten in the world in this event. 

• Across two days of competition, Guam’s Raina Taitingfong reached the quarter finals of both the women’s Canoe Single 200m and the Kayak Single 500m. She is the first woman from Guam to compete in an Olympic ‘paddling’ event. “I'm happy with what I did," Taitingfong said after her canoeing heat. "[It] was good and it was fun.”

• Pacific athletes made a strong impression in the women’s Weightlifting events. Vanuatu’s Ajah Pritchard-Lolo made history as her country’s first female weightlifter, competing on her 23rd birthday, and finishing eleventh overall in the 81kg event. Samoa’s Iuniarra Sipaia and Guam’s Nicola Velasco Lagatao finished eleventh in the +81kg event and 49kg event respectively. Mathlynn Sasser from the Marshall Islands finished tenth in the 59kg event, and represented her country as a flag-bearer in the Closing Ceremony.

• The Pacific was also well represented in men’s Weightlifting. Kaimauri Erati from Kiribati came seventh overall in the men’s 61kg event, and later carried the Kiribati flag in the Closing Ceremony. Samoa’s Don Opeloge was extremely well prepared, ranking eighth in the world before the start of his 102kg event, but was unable to register a lift on the day. 

Morea Baru, a three-time Olympian from PNG, finished in a very impressive fifth place in the men’s 61kg Weightlifting event. In a heart-warming show of regional solidarity, Fiji’s weightlifting coach, Henry Elder, heaped praise on Morea’s efforts in a Facebook post, writing: “Wow, this has got to be one [of] my highlights of the Paris Olympics. One [of] our own brothers, making the top five in the Olympics. That's huge, the biggest stage in sports and we see our PNG brother lift his game. So proud of you Morky!"

• And one of the last Pacific athletes to compete at the Paris Olympics was also one of the youngest. Representing Fiji, 17-year-old Lolohea Navuga Naitasi competed in the women’s 67kg Taekwondo. “If you love a sport, grab every opportunity and don’t let anything hold you back,” she said after her event. Lolohea and her teammate, Venice Elizabeth Megan Traill, made history as the first Fijian athletes to compete in Taekwondo at the Olympic Games. Venice was one of the flag bearers for Fiji in the Closing Ceremony.

With years of dreaming, months of training, and more than two weeks of fierce Olympic competition now behind them, athletes from 17 Pacific nations can take a break, knowing they represented themselves, their families and their nations with great distinction. Sports fans across the Pacific can take a breather, too – but not for long with the Paris 2024 Paralympics kicking off on Wednesday 28 August.

For more on the extraordinary achievements of Pacific competitors at the 2024 Paris Olympics, explore the news on the ONOC website.