Karalo Maibuca finished in seventh place in Heat 1 of the men’s 100m at the Paris Olympics 2024. While this might not sound too promising for the rest, the 25-year-old sprinter achieved what he came for in Paris. Maibuca clocked a timing of 11.30 in men’s 100 m at the Paris Games to beat his own national record of 11.42 seconds which he had set at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
While Maibuca did not find a podium finish, he scripted his personal best. “That is my target at the moment, to get a new personal best in Paris,” he had said before leaving for the 2024 Summer Games.
Karalo Maibuca was the one-man army for Tuvalu- a tiny island county in Oceania- at the Paris Olympics 2024. He was the only athlete representing the nation at the grand stage. Earlier, he had featured for Tuvalu at the 2020 Tokyo Games where he finished in the preliminary round itself.
Karalo Maibuca: From Airport Runway To Olympic Track
While sprinters usually train on tracks in stadiums, this was not the case for Karalo Maibuca. Like many other athletes in Tuvalu, he practiced on the airport runway in the capital Funafuti to prepare for competitions.
Meilei Meilei, an official of the Tuvalu Olympics Committee said, “It’s true we don’t have any track here for field events. If people come and train here, they run on the airfield. Without access to high-performance facilities, the challenge is to get our athletes up to that level.”
Melei said that without an athletics track, their best sportsmen and women are compelled to go overseas to train and nurture their dreams of competing at the Olympics. “Without access to high-performance facilities, the challenge is to get our athletes up to that level,” he added.
Maibuca represented Tuvalu at the Pacific Mini Games in Saipan. In the preliminary heat of the 100 m, he placed 6th with a time of 11.35 seconds. In the preliminary heat of the 200 m, he was placed 4th clocking 23.31 seconds; in the semifinal he was placed 7th with a time of 23.66 seconds.
Also Read: Tuvalu To Send One-Man Army To Paris Olympics 2024
In the preliminary heat in 4 x 100m relay, he was placed 3rd with a time of 43.56 seconds; in the final the team placed 6th with a time of 43.29 seconds.
Karalo Maibuca represented Tuvalu at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022 where he broke the Tuvalu national record in the 100m with a time of 11.39.
Maibuca competed in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, clocking the timing of 11.55 in the 100m, but failed to advance past the preliminary round.
