Tuvalu is a small island country with a population of around 11,000. The country made its Olympic debut with the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Since then they have sent a total of six athletes to Olympics.
Although Tuvalu hasn’t won an Olympic medal so far, yet its spirit is high. The country will take part in the Paris Olympics 2024 with a solo athlete.
Karalo Maibuca will solely represent Tuvalu in track events. The sprinter had also represented the country in 2020 Tokyo Olympics 2020. This is the second time that Maibuca will be featuring in Olympics.
Rough Road to Paris Olympics 2024
However, the 25-year-old’s sporting journey does not come without challenges. There are not enough practicing facilities in his country.
In Tuvalu, athletes use the airport runway in the capital Funafuti to practice and prepare themselves for any competition.
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Meilei Meilei, an official of the Tulavu 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.”
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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.
Many of the small Tuvalu team that competed at the Oceania athletics championships earlier this month trained on the airfield.
Karalo Maibuca will be participating in the 100 m race event in the Paris Olympics 2024, just like in Tokyo. Even though he failed to get through the prelims after finishing last, but scripted a new record for Tulavu.
In Tokyo, he clocked a timing of 11.42 seconds in men’s 100 m event, which was his national record.
Maibuca left Tuvalu to study and train at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, where he prepared for the Olympics at the neighbouring athletics stadium.
“Training has been good, all the preparation is on Paris, plenty of track work,” he said.
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Although he might not come close to winning a medal, he wants to upgrade his own national record and Paris Olympics 2024 would be a perfect platform.
“That is my target at the moment, to get a new personal best in Paris,” he said.
