Fiji will host the biggest Oceania Athletics Championships that will see 617 athletes competing at the ANZ Stadium for the next four days.
Oceania Athletics executive director Yvonne Mullins indicated this to the healthy growth of athletics in the Oceanic region.
"Six hundred and seventeen athletes are here and this is our largest Oceania championships," Mullins said.
"The sport is alive and well in the Oceania region and the best are here.
"So if the best are here that means we got a far broader participation base out there. We are growing."
On the same note, Oceania Athletics president Geoff Gardner said they like to see their sport (athletics) as a sport that fed other sports.
"We like to see ourselves as a sport that feeds other sports with the skills because athletics is seen as the mother of all sports and because of the strength, endurance, speed and agility," Gardner said.
He said the growth in the number of quality athletes competing in the region was also a positive sign for athletics. Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee CEO Lorraine Mar said it was not going to be one group that would be making it happen.
"I think it is about us creating the environment that will get the performances," Mar said.
The competition which starts today will be featuring athletes from the following Oceanic countries: American Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Tonga, Nauru, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Samoa and Polynesie Francaise.
Photo: Yvonne Mullins Oceania Athletics executive director