Sixteen-year-old sprinter Sera Nasilivata broke through on the senior stage at the New Zealand Athletics Championships, finishing second in the women’s 100 metres final in 12.49 seconds — a mark that meets New Zealand’s Commonwealth Games qualifying standard. The performance cements the teenager’s rapid rise after a breakout season in local school athletics.
Nasilivata, who last year ran for Mahatma Gandhi Memorial High School, first grabbed national attention when she shattered a 32-year-old junior girls 100m record previously held by Masilina Rakai, who set the mark while representing Ba Methodist High School in 1993. Her runner-up finish in New Zealand is the latest sign she is transitioning successfully from junior standout to senior contender.
Also among the Pacific athletes making an impression was 20-year-old Ratu Penaia Ramasirai, who finished second in the men’s 100m final of the Polynesian Championships division with a time of 11.00 seconds. Ramasirai’s podium finish reinforces the depth emerging from Fiji in the short sprints, where several young athletes have been posting competitive times this season.
Fiji’s distance contingent also produced notable results. National distance champion Yeshnil Karan placed fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase, clocking 9:21.98. The time came despite a disrupted six-week pre-competition period after heavy flooding in Yaladro, Tavua, forced him to train on unsuitable roads and contend with niggling foot pain. Karan narrowly missed the podium in a competitive field as he opened his 2026 campaign.
The New Zealand meet provided a testing environment against quality regional opposition and offered selection-significant marks for athletes targeting international meets. For Nasilivata, meeting the Commonwealth Games standard at 16 is an important milestone and will bring her into discussions around senior team selection as national bodies confirm their squads. For Karan and Ramasirai, the championships offered a benchmark from which to build through the rest of the season despite the obstacles faced in their local training environments.
The results underline a growing pipeline of young Fijian talent making the step up to senior competition across sprint and distance events. With Commonwealth Games qualification timelines and national selection meetings approaching, these performances will be watched closely by officials and coaches as they finalise teams for the international season.
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