A boxer from Tuvalu earned her tiny South Pacific nation’s first ever Commonwealth Games medal without winning a fight overnight.
Tarona Taafaki lost her only bout in the women’s 75-kilogram class to India’s Lovlina Borgohain, losing every round on all three of the judges’ cards.
Because there were only five entrants, Taafaki received a bye to the last four, meaning she was automatically guaranteed at least a bronze medal.
Tarona Taafaki arrives at the Commonwealth Games during the opening ceremony. (AP: Kin Cheung)
But her coach and father said the population of Tuvalu, an island south-east of Tonga, will celebrate the medal and use it to highlight a climate change emergency.
Badi Taafaki, whose son Pasoni competed earlier in the Games and lost his only bout at 70kg, told the British Press Association: “For the people of Tuvalu, this medal means everything.
“We’re one of the smallest nations in the world, so a medal like this is hugely significant. We have worked so hard to get here. For me as a coach, it’s a stepping stone.”
Tarona and Pasoni are the two eldest of eight children, all of whom are boxers. They are based in New Zealand in order to take advantage of better facilities.
“My children are very fortunate,” Badi said.Â
“They have opportunities and facilities that I never had. Boxing is our whole life. Strength is in our bloodline.”
Athletes on the island famously train on its airport runway, the most stable land mass on an island increasingly threatened by rising sea levels. Climate experts predict half of the nation’s capital, Funafuti, could be submerged by 2050.
A group of locals play volleyball on the airport runway in Funafuti, Tuvalu. (Getty Images: Fiona Goodall)
“Yes, we train on the airport runway,” Badi said. “When a plane comes in, everyone moves aside. As soon as it leaves, we go back on the tarmac, because there is nowhere else to train.
“If we can win medals, more people around the world will recognise Tuvalu and begin to understand the challenges we face because of climate change.
“It is very real for us. The coastal erosion is unbelievable, and the countdown is now measured in years, not decades. Some islands have lost half their land. At high tide the sea comes right through. People living on the coast can’t sleep if there’s a storm, because the waves can come straight through their homes.”
Tarona is not the first boxer to win a Commonwealth Games medal without winning a fight. Australia’s Taylah Robertson picked up a bronze in the women’s flyweight category on the Gold Coast in 2018 despite losing her bout to England’s Lisa Whiteside.
AP
By
