Rusiate Rogoyawa

Last updated

Rusiate Rogoyawa
Personal information
Full nameRusiate Rogoyawa
National teamFlag of Fiji.svg  Fiji
Born (1961-05-16) 16 May 1961 (age 64)
Cikobia-i-Lau, Fiji
Sport
Sport Cross-country skiing

Rusiate Rogoyawa (born 16 May 1961) is a Fijian cross-country skier. Born in Cikobia-i-Lau, he moved to Norway in 1982 to study electric engineering. His participation at the 1988 Winter Olympics, where he became the first athlete for Fiji at a Winter Olympics, was eventually funded by the International Olympic Committee. He competed in the men's 15 kilometre classical and placed 83rd out of the 85 athletes that competed. In the next years, he also took up boxing and rugby, before competing again at the 1994 Winter Olympics. In the men's 10 kilometre classical, he placed last.

Contents

Biography

Rusiate Rogoyawa was born on 16 May 1961 in Cikobia-i-Lau, Fiji. [1] His mother is Rusiate Nayatevakalaion. [2] Rogoyawa stated that his first name meant "Richard the Lion-hearted" while his last name meant "well-known". [3] He left his hometown in 1982 [a] to study electrical engineering in Oslo, Norway. There, he saw snow for the first time. [4] While he was in Norway, he married a Norwegian woman. [2]

The competition venue for Rogoyawa's event at the 1988 Winter Games. Canmore Nordic Centre.jpeg
The competition venue for Rogoyawa's event at the 1988 Winter Games.

While studying, he started skiing and enjoyed the sport. [4] He was coached by Torbjørn Kulstad. In 1987, he contacted sports officials back in Fiji in hope of representing the nation at an edition of the Winter Olympics. In September of the same year, the International Olympic Committee responded that they would fund his stint for the Winter Games as part of a programme for first-time competing nations. [2] Rogoyawa represented Fiji at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada. There, he was the first athlete for Fiji at a Winter Games, [5] and thus the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. [1] He competed in the men's 15 kilometre classical on 19 February against 89 other athletes. Going into the event, he stated that his goal was to not place last. [4] He had placed 83rd after he had broken one of his skis early into the event. [6]

Rogoyawa had planned to compete at the 1992 Winter Olympics, [2] although he was not successful. [5] He instead competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Before the games, he had gained 9 kilograms (20 lb) of bodyweight and switched to the sports of boxing and rugby. He started cross-country skiing in September 1993 for his stint at the games. [7] He was again designated as the flag bearer for the 1994 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. [1] He competed in the men's 10 kilometre classical on 17 February against 87 other athletes. He had placed last with a time of 38:30.7. [8] Upon completing the event, Rogoyawa had stated that he felt "heavy", though remained positive as he further stated that he wanted to show that Fijians can ski as well. [3]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Several sources [4] [2] describe Rogoyawa abroad in 1982, but The Baltimore Sun gives 1983 instead. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Rusiate Rogoyawa Biographical Information". Olympedia . Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Morris, Jim (23 February 1988). "He isn't kidding, says Fijian skier, in finishing 83rd". Calgary Herald . Canadian Press. p. 36. Retrieved 27 June 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 "IOC offers to match Sarajevo relief funds". The Baltimore Sun . 18 February 1994. p. 164. BS. Retrieved 27 June 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lyon, Bill (24 February 1988). "Rogoyawa is one-man team for Fiji at Games". Ledger-Enquirer . Knight Ridder. p. 11. Retrieved 27 June 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 "Fiji Overview". Olympedia . Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  6. ↑ "15 kilometres (Classical), Men". Olympedia . Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  7. ↑ "Fiji Islander catches tropical ski bug". The News Journal . Reno Gazette-Journal. 18 February 1994. p. 40. Retrieved 27 June 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "10 kilometres (Classical), Men". Olympedia . Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.