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Sweet photo shows how much Olympic gold means to tiny island nation

A nation gripped with a devastating Covid outbreak has enjoyed a moment of respite in a golden Olympic moment.

Natalie WolfeNatalie Wolfe
@natwolfe94
2 min read
July 29, 2021 - 8:42AM
Two young boys watch the game. Picture: Teivovo Rugby
Two young boys watch the game. Picture: Teivovo Rugby

Fiji has defended their Olympic Rugby Sevens title with a stunning 27-12 victory over New Zealand at the Tokyo Stadium last night.

The elated Fijians burst into a cappella hymns that boomed around the stadium to celebrate just the second ever Olympic medal for the nation of 890,000 people scattered around more than 330 Pacific islands.

Fiji skipper Jerry Tuwai said there had been “a lot of expectation”. “Every Fijian wants only the win. It’s a good day for Fiji today,” he said.

“They won’t be thinking about the pandemic now, they’ll be celebrating the gold medal.”

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Jerry Tuwai reacts as the final whistle is blown on their gold medal match. Picture: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Jerry Tuwai reacts as the final whistle is blown on their gold medal match. Picture: Dan Mullan/Getty Images


Fiji’s Welsh coach Gareth Baber hailed the “resilience of the group dealing with whatever has been thrown our way” after spending five months away from their families as coronavirus restrictions took hold throughout Oceania.

“It’s been a really strange year, particularly the last six months,” Mr Baber told AFP.

“We were locked down in Fiji, then we went to Australia where we were in quarantine.

“It takes a special kind of person to make that commitment.”

Videos from back home showed the Fijians watching the game, with thousands of people celebrating the win - within their coronavirus curfew.

Fiji is dealing with one of the world’s fastest-spreading coronavirus outbreaks, with more than 6000 cases diagnosed in just the past week.

Even hospital staff, dealing with more than 700 coronavirus cases a day, managed to take a few minutes to catch some of the game.

A quarantine breach in April saw the end of Fiji’s year-long run of no community transmission.

Health authorities are now in a race against time to vaccinate the nation, with 300 deaths already reported and experts suggesting the number could be as high as 1000 fatalities.

Another photo showed how important the win is to Fijians, with Teivovo Rugby, a local magazine, uploading a picture of two young boys watching the team fight for gold.

New Zealand’s Scott Curry, who was instrumental to the Kiwis run to the final, credited Fiji for a good game.

“It’s pretty disappointing to take it this far and not to win. We went into that game with a lot of confidence that we could get gold,” he said.

“We had our opportunities out there. Credit to Fiji, they took theirs, and we didn’t.”

Fiji had run out 26-14 semi-final winners over Argentina, while New Zealand outmuscled Britain 29-7 in the other last-four clash.

In the bronze medal match, Argentina beat Britain 17-12.

Originally published as Sweet photo shows how much Olympic gold means to tiny island nation

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/olympics/sweet-photo-shows-how-much-olympic-gold-means-to-tiny-island-nation/news-story/e2e16814f54642320e2ac0b9efdb82e9