NATABUA High School’s star sprinter Adi Ceva Lutumailagi sealed a fourth straight Senior Girls 400m gold at the 2026 Coca‑Cola Games on Saturday, capping a dominant secondary‑school career in what was also her final year of high school competition. The Nadi athlete crossed the line to extend a winning streak that dates back to her sub‑junior days, but said she left the track more frustrated than celebratory because she was unhappy with her time.
“There’s no surprise, but I’m disappointed with my time,” Adi Ceva told Times Sport after the final. The measured reaction underlined a competitiveness that has driven her through successive age categories and now into the senior ranks where expectations have accompanied her every season.
Her victory was the product of longterm family support and disciplined preparation, she said, acknowledging the role of parents who helped with off‑season training. “I’d like to thank my father, my mother … my dad. They are my source of motivation,” she said. Her father, Savenaca Lutumailagi, reflected similar pride but kept the tone humble, crediting years of hard work and his daughter’s character for her achievements. “She’s a wonderful girl — humble, obedient and always listening,” he said, adding that a foundation of faith learned at Nadi District School helped guide her journey.
The win at the Coca‑Cola Games, Fiji’s premier secondary‑schools athletics meet, is the latest milestone in a career that began with success at sub‑junior level and progressed steadily through each grade. For Adi Ceva it represents both an ending and a new beginning: having completed her high school eligibility, she immediately shifted focus to an international target, the 2026 Oceania Athletics Championships in Darwin, Australia, scheduled for May 18–23.
Coach and family expect the regional meet to be a tougher test and an opportunity to sharpen her performance against wider competition. Adi Ceva has signalled the same, saying she wants to run faster and use the Oceania Championships to improve on the time she described as unsatisfactory in Nadi.
Beyond training and results, the sprinter offered advice aimed at younger athletes: mental resilience. “Never give up. Always have faith and trust in yourself,” she said, before expanding on a mindset that has carried her through pressure races. “It’s all in the mind. Stop thinking about problems… who’s coming first, who’s breaking records. You just do you.”
As she prepares for Darwin, the athletics community will watch whether Lutumailagi can convert national dominance into a stronger personal best on the regional stage — and provide a fitting capstone to a school‑athletics career that began in primary school and culminated in a fourth straight Coca‑Cola Games gold.