Tahiti eyes Gold as they return to the Pacific Games
After being excluded from the Pacific Games for a year, Team Tahiti have set their eyes on the prize. Come July, they will bring their “A game”.
Mr Teva Bernadino, Head of the Tahitian Delegation and Mr Michel Sommers, Treasurer of the Olympic Committee of French Polynesia, are both thrilled to be able to join their nations pursuits for Gold Medals.
“We are happy to be present for the games because the Tahitian team was unsubscribed from the Pacific Games since one year later. The Pacific Council said okay that we could be part of the Pacific Games and we are happy to meet the Pacific Games Office.
“For the delegation, this is a way for us to prove that all the Tahitian athletes are ready to take part in the games. They are prepared for the competition. We are going for all the gold medals such as the Sailing competition, the Va’a, Taekwondo and Table Tennis,” they shared.
More than 500 people will make up the Team Tahiti contingent and they are certain they are more than ready for the upcoming game.
“For the athletes, we have 189 male, 144 women that will be competing. For our football team, 8 years ago we had bronze and the competition in Papua New Guinea we had silver so now we are coming to Samoa to play and we are going for gold. We move forward over the years.”
Preparation plays a key role in the formula of success and the delegation is here to pave the way for Team Tahiti.
“This is the first mission of the Tahitian Delegation and we are very happy to be here and to visit all the installation. We have prepared a special committee for the Pacific Games, our athletes are a very young delegation and we will do all for them to be ready in July.
“We are participating in all sports except for cricket, lawn bowl and some other sports.”
At the 2015 Pacific Games held in Port Moresby, Tahiti won 114 of the total 908 medals, placing them third overall on the medal tally behind Papua New Guinea (1st), and New Caledonia (2nd).
