Performing in front of her family for the first time is one of the biggest pressures that Team Fiji hammer throw athlete Deborah Faith Bulai will try to overcome as she gears up for the 2024 Oceania Athletics Championship that will begin tomorrow.
Bulai says the fact that her family has never watched her perform before is a pressure on top of trying to perform at a certain level.
The 24-year-old says all she is focused on now is to perform to the very best that she can and enjoy the opportunity of representing Fiji at this year's championship.
She says she is also excited about this opportunity to participate in a sport that is not common in Fiji in front of her home crowd and most importantly to promote the sport of hammer throw here in Fiji.
The Rewa woman says one of the huge challenges she faces is her mentality as sometimes she just doubts herself and all the hard efforts she has been putting in during training goes to waste.
Bulai says she just tries to overcome this challenge by having positive talks and pushing herself to do her best.
Bulai won gold in the 4kg hammer throw at the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands last year and will be participating in the senior female hammer throw next Thursday.
Meanwhile, day 1 of the championship will begin at 9am tomorrow with the women’s Hammer throw finals.
The track events will begin at 1pm with the under 18 Women’s 100 metres hurdles.
The championship will be held from tomorrow to next Saturday at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva.
