Mereoni Vibose (26 April 1951 – 27 January 2018) 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 female

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competed in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

and

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

. She won nine

South Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games were ...

medals from 1969 to 1991 and set the Fijian record for javelin and discus at the National Athletics Championships. Vibose was inducted into the Fiji Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. She represented her country internationally at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

and at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Biography

Vibose was born on 26 April 1951. She grew up in

Nadroga Nadroga-Navosa ( Nadroga: Nadrogā-Navoha) is one of the fourteen provinces of Fiji and one of eight based in Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. It is about 2,385 square kilometers and occupies the South-West and Central areas of Viti Levu, Fiji' ...

and was an athlete during her time at Adi Cakobau School. In national championships, Vibose won 2 gold medals in javelin and discus each at the 1983 and 1987 National Athletics Championships in Fiji. During the championships, Vibose set the Fijian discus record in 1983 with 47.76 m and the Fijian javelin record in 1987 with 53.18 m. Alternatively, Vibose won nine South Pacific Games medals during her career. Her first South Pacific medals were a silver medal in the javelin and discus events at the

1969 South Pacific Games The 1969 South Pacific Games, held from 13–23 August 1969 at Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, was the third edition of the South Pacific Games. A total of 1,150 athletes participated in the games. Participating countries Twelve Pacific nations ...

. Overall, Vibose won a total of nine medals at the South Pacific games. Outside of the South Pacific, Vibose competed at the

1974 Commonwealth Games The 1974 British Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1974 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Christchurch, New Zealand from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The Games were off ...

and the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

but did not medal. The following year, Vibose competed in the

1983 World Championships in Athletics The 1st 1983 World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between 7 and 14 August 1983. Summary The overall med ...

in the javelin and discus events. After competing at the

1987 World Championships in Athletics The 2nd World Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy between August 28 and September 6, 1987. Men's results Track 1983 , 1987 ...

in javelin, Vibose's final IAAF event was at the

1990 Oceania Athletics Championships The 1990 Oceania Athletics Championships were held at the National Stadium in Suva, Fiji, between July 11–14, 1990. A total of 38 events were contested, 22 by men and 16 by women. Athletes from the French overseas territories in the South ...

where she won a bronze in discus and a gold in javelin. Vibose retired the following year in 1991. After her retirement, Vibose returned to athletics to compete in the

2016 World Masters Athletics Championships 2016 World Masters Athletics Championships is the 22nd in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place in Perth, Australia from 26 October to 6 November 2016. Prior to this year, the championships in this biennial ...

. Her best performance at the World Masters was fourth place in the javelin event. In 1998, Vibose was inducted into the Fiji Sports Hall of Fame. Vibose died on 27 January 2018 in

Sigatoka Sigatoka ( ) is a town in Fiji. It is on the island of Viti Levu at the mouth of the Sigatoka River, for which it is named, some 61 kilometres from Nadi. Its population at the 2017 census was 17,622. It is the principal urban centre for the pr ...

, Fiji.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vibose, Mereoni 1951 births 2018 deaths Fijian female athletes Fijian discus throwers Fijian javelin throwers Female discus throwers Female javelin throwers Commonwealth Games competitors for Fiji Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Fiji People from Nadroga-Navosa Province