On August 11th, 2016, no one in Fiji went to school or work. Buildings were left deserted and universities empty as the entire country fixated itself on their television screens. Every restaurant, bar, home, and hotel was jam-packed with Fijians watching the rugby seventh final match, pinning Britain against Fiji, in the Rio 2016 Olympics. At stake was Fiji's first ever Olympic gold medal.
The results were staggering, an almost unheard of 43-7 in favor of Fiji. As the final whistle sounded, team captain Osea Kolinisau sank to his knees, understanding the weight of what he and his team had finally accomplished. Back at home, the tiny nation containing just over 900,000 people erupted into cheers that could be heard for miles. In a press conference following the team's historic win, Kolinisau told reporters that he "was just thankful to the lord for blessing us and giving us an opportunity to win in a mega-sport arena like the Olympics."
"I never dreamed of being an Olympian, let alone being a medalist, let alone being a gold medalist. So I was just thankful to up above for the journey God has brought me on."
The win is historic for Fiji, which suffers from a much more limited budget and poorer training facilities than higher GDP nations like Britain. Additionally, the win is a welcome distraction for the country, which has it's celebrations come hot off the brink of Cyclone Winstone. The cyclone, which hit in February of this year, killed more than forty people and left many more homeless; the country is still dealing with the loss and destruction to this day.
"Rugby is like a religion in Fiji, and we're already a very religious country," editor-in-chief of the Fiji Times, Elenoa Baselaia, told CNN. "Whether it's with paper scrunched together to make a ball, it's with bottles or a real rugby ball, somebody in the neighborhoods is playing rugby." Truely, rugby embodies the spirit of the Fijian people, and they have finally seen their passion and determination rewarded on the national scale.
Rio 2016 is Fiji's 14th summer Olympic games, and the country doesn't plan to rest for long on their laurels. The team plans to return to their home nation (undoubatbly to rauccous celebration and praise) and begin training for their next upcoming season.
