Rio Olympics

Smith was a talented junior swimmer and won a string of Australian Junior Championships, but in his late teens ice pushed his life off the rails and he was soon living on the street.

"It was difficult, but I guess the pain that I suffered, the pain that I dealt with has actually put me in a position now to give back to others," he said.

"That's what my life's all about now. I'm all about giving hope to the next generation and giving hope to other people who are addicted to drugs."

Morea Baru is not a new name in the PNG sports industry, however, this young Hanuabada lad is about to make a bigger name for himself and the country when he takes centre stage tomorrow (today) at the Oceania Championship in Fiji.

Baru has his eyes set on the 2016 Rio Olympics and there is no doubt of his capabilities.

Trukai Industries General Manager-Sales and Marketing, Andrew Daubney, said:

Ryan made this remarks after reports suggested he had been left out of the squad for this weekend’s London Sevens.

After quitting NFL franchise the San Francisco 49ers this week, the former NRL star announced his intention to qualify for the Olympics with the rugby sevens’ gold-medal favourites.

Reports stated that the crosscode star has missed out on the 12-man squad named by coach Ben Ryan. However Ryan, the former England coach, insisted that a decision has yet to be made.

The winner of both the men’s and women’s tournaments will book places at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August next year when sevens debuts on sport's greatest stage.  

With Fiji and New Zealand men and Australia and New Zealand women already qualified for Rio 2016, there is huge interest building to see who will join them. The draw comprises eight men's teams and five women's teams.

It is the first time New Zealand has staged the Oceania Sevens and the two-day event will take place this weekend, 14 & 15 November, at the Trusts Arena in Waitakere (Auckland). 

The Vanuatu team needs to play in a minimum of twelve (12) FIVB World Tour Events each event costing the team close to 1 million vatu in airfares alone.

To date the girls have played in seven events and are currently ranked 22 in the Olympic ranking.

The top seventeen 17 teams (two from each country) will qualify through the FIVB World Tour Olympic ranking calculated by taking each team’s best 12 event finishes from January 1 to June 12, 2016.

The Olympic scholarship recipient through the Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee (CISNOC) is based in the United Kingdom where he races in the British Milers Series.

CISNOC sports manager Siniva Marsters says Beddoes was one of their leading athletes for the Rio Olympics.

The Cook Islands is hoping to send a team of 11 athletes to the games.

The Olympics qualifying time for 800m is 1 minute 45.80s and Beddoes has until July next year to meet the criteria.

Fiji beat Vanuatu 4-3 in penalty shoot outs tonight at the Sir Hubert Murray stadium.

More To come..