Team Fiji sprinter and former Nakasi High School student Waisake Tewa has been selected by Athletics Fiji for the 2024 World Indoor Championships.
The championships are set to take place from the 1st-3rd March 2024 at the Commonwealth Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.
Athletics Fiji say selection was based on World Athletics Universiality rules where if no athlete has qualified for the championships, then 1 Universiality is allowed for only one athlete, male or female, in the 60m.
They say Fiji had no one qualified and so the next best sprinter with higher performance points according to World Athletics was Waisake Tewa.
Tewa will be competing in the Men’s 60m sprint on Friday 1st March.
This will be his first ever indoor competition let alone his first ever international competition since his debut in the black and white at the 2023 Pacific Games where he won 2 silver medals, in the Men’s 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay, and a 5th place finish in the final of the Men’s 100m.
The former Nakasi High School student made the switch from the 800m to the short sprints after “accidentally” qualifying for the 100m and 200m at last year’s Pacific Games Trials.
Tewa is currently completing his certificate in Carpentry Engineering at the Fiji National University and has an impressive personal record in the 100m (10.71s), 200m (21.60s), 400m (49.87s) and 800m (1:59.00s) making him one of Fiji’s versatile male sprinters since Niko Verekauta.
Tewa who is coached by Bola Tafo’ou of the Laucala Bay Athletics Club says that he is very nervous but at the same time excited as he will be looking to line up against some of the world’s best sprinters.
He is expected to fly out on Tuesday 27th February with training partner and Tuvalu sprinter Karalo Maibuca.
