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# Commonwealth Games excellence? Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Niue
bendigo 00:01 UTC 04 Oct 2010 | DELHI: Niue Island has overcome its share of obstacles to attend the Commonwealth Games. Its population of 1400 - which ranks ahead of only the Pitcairn Islands, Vatican City and Tokelau among the world's smallest countries - limits the athlete pool. And the shooting team often have to aim at fruitbats when clay targets are in short supply. ''It's very hard for us to get ammunition and clay birds for our practice,'' said Sione Togiavalu, Niue's veteran marksman. ''We've got them for about two to three months. That's the only time to do our practice. Otherwise we shoot fruitbats and pigeons.'' Still, Niue have made it to Delhi - and in greater numbers than might be expected. Twenty-seven athletes, including Sydney-based kickboxer-turned-wrestler Justine Kalauni, will represent the tiny South Pacific island nation from today, and Alan Puleosi, Niue's chef de mission, is hopeful of a first medal. ''The newspapers are joking that a third of our population is here in Delhi,'' Puleosi said. ''Weightlifting is our best sport. We have the weights, and the platform is all we need. It is more difficult for other sports - there is no pool but we do have an athletics track and an open field. But we do not have things other nations have, like a physio and a nutritionist. It's just the coach and the athlete, and if an athlete gets injured, we take them to hospital.'' History suggests Niue is used to fighting above its weight. Its name translates to ''behold the coconut'', a throwback to the island's often violent past when warriors returned triumphant from the much larger Tonga with the fruits of victory. And Captain Cook named it ''Savage Island'' in 1774 after his fleet was frightened away by locals who coloured their teeth red for menacing effect. Niue boasts a proud sporting history, having competed at two previous Commonwealth Games and claimed rugby's Oceania Cup in 2008. The island hosts an annual 10-team football tournament that takes in 10 per cent of the population - and will soon be home to a lawn bowling green. ''Everyone plays every sport but the problem with us is we don't stick to one sport,'' Puleosi said. ''The same people play rugby and soccer and the other sports. It's hard to get anyone to specialise.'' Source: The Sydney Morning Herald |
ozziegiraffe 11:40 UTC 04 Oct 2010 | I was delighted to see the team from Niue in the opening ceremony. However, I was very annoyed with the Aussie-centric coverage of the parade of nations on television here in Australia. We missed some teams completely (including Samoa) because of ads, and I only got a glimpse of the Solomon Islands team (and I know one of them, and actually got to see him live in Melbourne). | 1
travelling_mike 20:11 UTC 07 Oct 2010 | Didn't Niue have the best medal to population ratio at a previous games? I think they won only one medal in weightlifting. | 2
ozziegiraffe 10:57 UTC 08 Oct 2010 | It seems Nauru now has that honour, for Gold medals at least, after Peter in the weightlifitng. I did get to see my Solomon Islander friend run, as there was an Australian in his heat. | 3