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Banz: Rugby Injury Nearly Ended My Athletics Career

It was over a year ago when an injury nearly forced sprinter Banuve Tabakau­coro to give up his dream of competing at the Olympic Games. Tabakaucoro hurt his knee in
23 Dec 2018 11:00
Banz: Rugby Injury Nearly Ended My Athletics Career
Sprinter Banuve Tabakaucoro after training at the ANZ Stadium on December 21, 2018. Photo: Simione Haravanua

It was over a year ago when an injury nearly forced sprinter Banuve Tabakau­coro to give up his dream of competing at the Olympic Games.

Tabakaucoro hurt his knee in 2017 while playing for the Team Fiji 7s team at the Va­nuatu Pacific Mini Games, after switching over from athletics.

“After the injury there were days when I just thought to myself: is this it? Am I done? Is this Banuve Tabakaucoro’s story?” he says.

“I’m 26 years old and actually hitting my peak as an athlete. I’ve been in sports for al­most 10-15 years now and this has basically been my life.

“When you get a career-ending injury like that you start to question whether you’ll be able to come back from it – mentally, it was very challenging.”

In 2016, Tabakaucoro broke Jone Delai’s 10.26s national 100m record, setting a new time of 10.2s in a gold medal win at the Mela­nesian Athletics Championships in Suva.

The new time was a milestone personal achievement, but it still fell short of the cut-off for qualification to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

His 200m winning run in 21.12s also fell short by 0.38s of the Rio qualifying time.

The disappointed sprinter decided to take up rugby 7s – an idea he had been flirting with for some time, despite his success on the track.

Joining 7s was a surreal moment for the for­mer Pacific ‘sprint king.’

As a top athlete, he relished the chance to test himself in such demanding conditions.

Coming off a stellar season in 2015 that in­cluded a double 100m and 200m gold medal win at the Papua New Guinea Pacific Games, the move was surprising.

Switching to 7s

He left the sport he loved and became so suc­cessful in, to pursue an opportunity in un­known waters with 7s.

Tabakucoro’s sporting prowess is under­scored by the fact that he played 6 interna­tional 7s matches in such a highly competi­tive sport before quitting and returning to athletics.

“Switching to a team sport for someone who has competed individually all his life was al­ways going to be tough,” Tabakaucoro says.

“I realised I wasn’t a team type of person and sometimes did things on my own which my teammates didn’t like.

“But I don’t blame them and neither do I blame myself because it was a big transition.

“I don’t regret switching to 7s either; I learnt a lot from the experience but for now the focus on athletics and the Pacific Games.”

At the Pacific Games, Tabakaucoro is not thinking about easing back into the athletics scene after being away for so long. He is eye­ing gold medals.

Strategy in Apia

The national record-holder’s winning strat­egy won’t be based on an over-elaborate plan or sound analysis of his opponents.

Neither will it be about re-capturing his for­mer glory – exploits that earned him several nicknames including the “Bau Bullet” and the “Sprint King.”

“I just want to run fast,” Tabakaucoro says.

“I haven’t been an underdog for such a long time but my knee has fully recovered and I’m excited to be part of the team again and to represent Fiji.”

Tabakaucoro has won four individual Pa­cific Games gold medals through 2011 and 2015. The sprinter has also won regularly at the Oceania Championships and the Mini Games.

He also holds the national and Pacific Games 200m record of 20.53s, a feat he achieved in 2015.

His coach coach Bola Tafo’ou says Tabakau­coro’s return will have a morale boosting ef­fect on the entire Team Fiji athletics squad.

“Physically, Banuve is looking very fit and hasn’t lost much from his time away,” Tafo’ou says.

“I think he has become hungrier and more determined since returning and it’s good to have him back.”

Tabakaucoro’s recording-setting, gold med­al win at the ANZ National Stadium in 2016 was the sprinter at his best.

By that time, he had already become the re­gion’s fastest man and had set his sights on qualification to Rio.

Yet to hit his stride

He is yet to hit his stride, but on his return ran a time of 10.8s at the first trial and fur­ther reduced that to 10.6s two weeks ago.

While the sprinter has enjoyed a decorated career on the track, some of his more mem­orable moments have come representing Marist Brothers High School at the Coca Cola Games.

Tabakaucoro has won 10 medals in total for Marist and still holds the senior boys 100m and 200m records of 10.43s and 21.04s respec­tively.

“The quality times I ran in high school while winning medals is something that I’m really proud of,” he says.

One other unforgettable moment came when Tabakaucoro became the fastest man in the Pacific at the 2011 Pacific Games in Noumea, New Caledonia.

“I will never forget winning gold in the 100m and 200m event at 18-years-old and still in high school,” he says.

“I remember waking up the next day and my bunk mate, Isireli Nakelekelevesi, saying: you ready to go for breakfast, champ?

“It’s hard to describe how I felt with one of Fiji’s greatest athletes calling me a champ – it was an extraordinary moment.”

To secure Olympic qualification for 2020, Tabakaucoro will need to go faster than his 10.2s run in 2016.

‘I want to run till I’m 40’

The sprinter admits switching between sports has affected his performance on the track but remains confident of beating his own record.

“I want to run till I’m 40,” he says.

The sprinter feels he has to work harder than others that came before him to earn the respect of the fans.

The Bau runner wants to write his own story and leave behind a legacy that inspires athletes long after he has left atheletics.

To do that, he knows Olympic qualification will almost be a necessity.

Whatever happens, Tabakaucoro has etched his name in the history books of Athletics Fiji.

He will go down as one of Fiji’s greatest sprinters, an upstart champion that upset the old guard with his sheer pace and power on the track.

His story, however, is still unfinished.

-edited by Osea Bola

Feedback: sheldon.chanel@fijisun.com.fj

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