Mataika Tuicakau was a

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

an track and field athlete who competed in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and discus throw events. Born on Tovu, Totoya on the Lau Islands of Fiji, Tuicakau was a tall athlete who excelled at

throwing events Throwing sports, or throwing games, are physical, human competitions where the outcome is measured by a player's ability to throw an object. The two primary forms are throwing for distance and throwing at a given target or range. The four most p ...

. He was the first Fijian to have success internationally in the

sport of athletics Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing sports, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and racewalking ...

. At the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

he threw in the shot put to hold off England's

Harold Moody Harold Arundel MoodyDavid A. Vaughan London: Independent Press, 1950. (8 October 1882 – 24 April 1947) was a Jamaican-born physician who emigrated to the United Kingdom, where he campaigned against racial prejudice and established the League o ...

and be declared the champion. He also claimed a silver medal in the discus behind

Ian Reed Ian Manley Reed (13 July 1927 – 7 August 2020) was a discus thrower, who represented Australia at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He won the gold medal at the 1950 Commonwealth Games in the men's discus throw event. He was born in Victoria. ...

of Australia, who broke the games record in the process. He was the first gold medallist for

Fiji at the Commonwealth Games Fiji have competed in all but three Commonwealth Games since 1938 British Empire Games, 1938, missing only 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1990, 1994 Commonwealth Games, 1994 and 2010 Commonwealth Games, 2010. For the first two of those games they were no ...

and remains their only athletics winner in the tournament's history. The shot put national record of he set in

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

in 1951 stood for over 50 years. He was the first entrant into the

Fiji Sports Hall of Fame The Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) was founded on 25 March 1949 and achieved International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognition on 20 September 1955. It is responsible for entering Fiji's representatives in ...

alongside rugby player

Josefa Levula Josefa Vuniyayawa Levula (15 June 1930 – 2 July 1989), known as "Jo" or "Joe", was a Fijian track athlete, and rugby union and professional rugby league footballer. He represented the Fijian national rugby union team before turning professional ...

.Fiji Sports Hall of Fame
Sporting Pulse. Retrieved on 2016-03-16.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuicakau, Mataika 20th-century births 20th-century deaths People from Totoya Fijian shot putters Male shot putters Fijian male athletes Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Fiji Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Fiji Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Fijian male discus throwers Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games