Transcript
PITA TAUFATOFUA: I feel ready. I mean it's time - it's been a long time coming (and) I'm just happy to get up there and compete.
VINNIE WYLIE: And what has the training been like over there because of course you're pretty much right at the end of the Games and so many competitors have already done their dash, and you've had to manage this intense interest in yourself, interest in Tonga and your event alongside your training - how's that been?
PT: It's actually been quite good because we've been here at the (athlete's) village for almost three weeks and three weeks of just intense focus is actually quite difficult to do so a bit of distraction here and there is ok. As you taper off with your training - you can't train 24 hours a day - you do have a few extra hours, you do have a few extra hours. All of the other athlete are pretty much finished so they're all out celebrating and partying but we just stay as focused as we can but we're also enjoying the experience as well.
VW: With your tupenu at the opening ceremony and the oil, and obviously Hans Arne Jensen wore his tupenu in competition as well - and with Fiji's success in the sevens - we've seen what an impact that even people from a small country can make and there's been a real stamp made on these Games by athletes from the Pacific.
PT: I had two goals coming here: one was to chase down a gold medal, the second goal was to make sure that Tonga and the Pacific is seen. We're not major super-powers but we have a lot to offer to the world and we want our culture out there so it is for Tonga but it's also for the islands in the Pacific. I qualified for Oceania so I'm representing Australia, Tonga, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Fiji - all of those countries - because there's only one athlete per weight division. To get that out to the world was a big goal of ours and we achieved it.
VW: Pita, in terms of your competition and the actual event, who do you see as your biggest challengers? You've said in the past that you believe you could win a medal and your coach has said the same thing so who is standing in your way?
PT: When you're a competitive athlete, the second you think that you can't win that's when you hang up the gloves and call it a day. In my way I've got to beat the world champion - world champion and two Olympic medallists just to get a medal so yeah it's a big ask but I've got to go and show everything I've learnt.