Banuve Tabakaucoro

Pacific sprint King and Queen retain titles

Fiji's Tabakaucoro set a new Pacific Games record of 10.31 seconds to hold off the challenge from hometown duo Jeremy Dodson and Kelvin Masoe to win his third straight gold medal in the event.

"It feels good to come out here and defend my title. It's been a tough few weeks, especially trying to perform to the expectations of the crowd back home."

"This is a title that's been in Fiji since even before I was born so I'm just glad to come out here and defend it once again," he said.

Fit and ready: Pacific Sprint King Tabakaucoro

Tabakaucoro has to run in nine events over five days and this includes the heats of the 100m, the 200m and the 4x100m.

He never has had to run these many races over a continuous five day period but the man who all will be watching in PNG is ready.

“This is the first time I will be competing over five days, maximum I have done is three days. With extra days, I really have to be running smart in all my races," he said.