BY JOY OFASIA
SOLOMON Islands Para-athlete Moffet Tolomae praise his coaches and family after bagging a gold and silver medal at the XVII Pacific Games 2023.
Tolomae scooped a gold medal in the Para-archery Recurve Open category event on Wednesday, last week at the DC Park, east of Honiara and a silver medal in the 10km wheelchair race at the Honiara national Stadium yesterday, making him the first Solomon Islands male para-athlete to win gold and silver in the history of both sports at the Pacific Games.
“I am nothing without them, my coaches and family,” revealed Tolomae to RAW SPORTS.
“Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to my coaches for their time and effort in supporting me during the last few months of preparations, as well as to my family for their encouragement and guidance that has inspired me to work toward this goal.”
The young Para-archer said that in spite of difficulties encountered in the previous few months while training at unsuitable locations and without the necessary equipment, he had succeeded achieving his primary goal of winning a gold medal for his nation.
“I am overjoyed and honoured to have won a gold medal. As a Para-athlete, winning this gold medal for the nation is an honour, and it is the consequence of my diligent training over the past few months,” he said.
With his gold medal victory, Moffat is advancing the status of the Solomon Islands disabled athletes in sports.
Tolomae’s gold and silver medals on the other hand will not be added to the official medal total for the games because a minimum number of participating nations is required for medals to be counted in the Para category. And unfortunately, only Tahiti and the host nation, Solomon Islands took part in the Para archery events.
