PNG weightlifter Baru finishes 5th as Pasifika athletes make their mark at Paris 2024

Pacific lifters in Paris finished in the top eight in their respective events on Thursday.

Papua New Guinea's Morea Baru finished an incredible 5th place overall in the men's 61 kilogram.

He lifted 118kg in the snatch and 161kg in the clean and jerk, for a total of 279kg.

That was his third top 10 finish at an Olympics, following a 10th place finish in Tokyo 2020 and 6th at Rio 2016.

Baru told Team PNG media he was happy with his performance, although he missed out on a medal.

''Although I did not do well in the snatch, I knew I had to do a big clean & jerk to give me a good total," he said.

"I was happy that I did all the three lifts in the clean & jerk. After competing and looking at my placing, I knew this was the fruit of all my hard work and sacrifice.

Coach Willie Tamasi said the lifer gave all he had.

''Overall, it was a huge achievement for Morea and for the country," he said.

"Even though the results were not expected in the snatch, we had to make sure he pulled off the three attempts in the clean & jerk to put him in a good position.

"Morea definitely went down fighting and we are proud of the effort he put in to stay in the top five with an amazing result thus far."

Team Fiji weightlifting coach Henry Elder congratulated Morea and said the lifter's performance "was huge".

"Wow, this has got to be one my highlights of the Paris Olympics," Elder said on his Facebook account.

"One our own brothers, making the top five in the Olympics. That's huge, the biggest stage in sports and we see our PNG brother lift his game. So proud of you Morky! It's been a tough journey."

Meanwhile, Kiribati's Kaimauri Erati finished in seventh place in the same event.

The 20-year-old totalled 220kg, with a snatch lift of 100kg and 120kg in the clean and jerk.

And Guam's Nicola Velasco Lagatao finished 11th in the women's 49kg event at South Paris Arena.

She lifted 59kg in the snatch, and 77kg in the clean and jerk.

Rose says experience 'unreal'

Samoa's Alex Rose said making the finals in the men's discus event at the Paris Olympics was "unreal", even though he finished 12th on Thursday morning.

As he stepped into the ring for the discus final at the Paris Olympics, Rose took in the momentous feeling.

"Even before my last throw, I'm walking into the ring like, 'Man, this is just unreal,'" Rose told News 8's.

"I'm at the Olympic games, I can hear all these people. This is the loudest, best stadium that I've ever competed in. And I had the privilege to hear those voices when I'm winding up and throwing. It's just an unreal feeling."

He recorded a throw of 61.89 meters.

Rose is based in the Grand Rapids in America but competes for his father's native Samoa.

"This year has been all about perseverance," he said. "I've never been more beat up as I am now, at 32 years old, trying to still perform at a high level.

"But I've also never thrown as far as I have now. I've never qualified for an Olympic final, but I did this year.

"So it's interesting. I found that I am much better at competing under pressure now, but I also might not have the gas that I used to. I am so incredibly proud to have competed in an Olympic final."

Rose threw 60.07 metres in his first throw but bettered that in his second throw.

His third throw was a foul.

The discus final turned out to be a record-breaking night inside the discus ring.

Jamaica's Roje Stona set a new Olympic record, minutes after Lithuania's Mykolas Alekna had done so.

The Jamaican claimed Olympic gold with a 70.00m effort in round four, after Alekna had hurled a 69.97 effort in the second round.

It's not only the first Olympic gold for Jamaica in the event, it's also Jamaica's first gold at Paris 2024 and the first Olympic medal of any colour in men's discus at the Games.

Australian Matthew Denny claimed the bronze medal.

He threw 69.31m effort in the second round sealing his first Olympic medal.

Meanwhile, the Oceania National Olympic Committee (ONOC) said Rose has joined a group of Pacific Islands discus athletes who have previously represented their countries at the Olympics.

Fellow Samoan Henry Smith competed at the 1984 Games and finished 17th.

Fijian Mesulame Rakuro was the last athlete representing a Pacific country to make a final. This was at the 1956 Olympics and he finished 15th in the men's discus final.

Fiji's Leslie Copeland finished 13th at the London Games in 2012 and was moved to 13th after another athlete was disqualified for illegal drug use.

But Copeland did not throw in the final.

Aquino out in wrestling quarters

Guam wrestler Mia Aquino lost out in the women's 53-kilogram freestyle category at the Paris Olympics.

Aquino, making her Olympic debut in the French capital, lost to Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medallist, Qianyu Pang from China

Mia is the third Aquino family member to represent Guam at an Olympics following her sister, Rckaela (wrestling), who placed 14th at Tokyo 2020.

Their uncle, Mariano Aquino also represented Guam in judo at the Seoul 1988 Games.

Clifton siblings for Samoa

Samoan brother and sister, Tuva'a and Samalulu Clifton, qualified for the quarterfinals in the kayak competitions in Paris on Thursday morning.

Tuva'a was in action in the men's kayak single 1000 metres and qualified for the quarterfinals.

Sister Samalulu competed in the women's kayak single 500m.

ONOC media said Samalulu previously trained with the New Zealand squad but switched to Samoa after being inspired by her brother's performance at Tokyo 2020.

"It was a really tough decision," she said of the switch.

" I've been paddling quite a long time, and I really did enjoy training with the New Zealand squad. I've put in a lot of work and a lot of effort. I was definitely inspired by Tuva'a's performance in Tokyo."

Meanwhile, Guam's Raina Taitingfong will also be in action in the quarterfinals of the women's kayak single 500m.

Taitingfong trains out in the open sea in Guam using a va'a (indigenous canoe).

She will also be competing in the women's kayak single 200m.