TABAKAUCORO Ratu Banuve

General
MISSING RIO
After failing to meet the qualification time for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro he was offered Fiji's universality place, but turned it down as he says he would have preferred to qualify on merit. "I wanted to stand among those Olympians and say, 'I deserve to be here', not hold that wildcard and say, 'I got a free entry'. I think that's what the Olympic Games is all about. The best competing with the best." (rnz.co.nz, 15 Jul 2016; Gregory Ravoi YouTube channel, 22 Nov 2020)

RUGBY SEVENS INJURY
The knee injury he suffered in 2017 playing international rugby sevens led him to consider ending his sporting career. "After the injury there were days when I just thought to myself, 'Is this it? Am I done? Is this Banuve Tabakaucoro's story?' When you get a [potentially] career-ending injury like that you start to question whether you'll be able to come back from it - mentally, it was very challenging." After he recovered in late 2018 he turned his focus back to athletics. "Switching to a team sport for someone who has competed individually all his life was al­ways going to be tough. 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 sevens either; I learnt a lot from the experience." (fijisun.com.fj, 23 Dec 2018)