ELFIN Sekoula Diwaqa practically flies when she sprints down a 100-metre.
One of the tiniest in her sub junior grade this Form 1 student of Nabala Secondary School awed the crowd when she easily snapped up 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay finals for her grade at the Macuata Zone II meet.
But Diwaqa is so shy you can barely hear her voice above the din of screaming cheers.
She quietly celebrated her victory by being hugged by her team mates before disappearing into the crowd.
There were no boasts about who she would defeat when she competes at the Coke Games in Suva in May.
All this 12-year-old from Namakomako Village wanted to say was that she liked to run.
"I run everyday at the ground in my village," she said.
"I took part in the Milo Games and I was training hard everyday in school so that I could come and play here today," she said.
"I've been running since I was very small and I knew that it was something that I was good at but my teachers tell me that if I want to become the best in this I have to work hard at it," she said.
"I have to eat the right food so I don't eat junk foods ... only healthy foods in the village like rourou and bele."
Diwaqa had all the more reason to smile when she was named best female athlete of the meet ahead of about 100 other female athletes.
"I never dreamt that today would be such a happy one for me.
"This will make my parents even happier."
Diwaqa has a dream and that is representing the country at major sporting events like the Pacific Games.
As she walked up to receive her award for being the best female athlete at the Labasa Muslim College grounds the announcer said the people there were looking at a future Makelesi Bulikiobo.
And why not.
One of the tiniest in her sub junior grade this Form 1 student of Nabala Secondary School awed the crowd when she easily snapped up 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay finals for her grade at the Macuata Zone II meet.
But Diwaqa is so shy you can barely hear her voice above the din of screaming cheers.
She quietly celebrated her victory by being hugged by her team mates before disappearing into the crowd.
There were no boasts about who she would defeat when she competes at the Coke Games in Suva in May.
All this 12-year-old from Namakomako Village wanted to say was that she liked to run.
"I run everyday at the ground in my village," she said.
"I took part in the Milo Games and I was training hard everyday in school so that I could come and play here today," she said.
"I've been running since I was very small and I knew that it was something that I was good at but my teachers tell me that if I want to become the best in this I have to work hard at it," she said.
"I have to eat the right food so I don't eat junk foods ... only healthy foods in the village like rourou and bele."
Diwaqa had all the more reason to smile when she was named best female athlete of the meet ahead of about 100 other female athletes.
"I never dreamt that today would be such a happy one for me.
"This will make my parents even happier."
Diwaqa has a dream and that is representing the country at major sporting events like the Pacific Games.
As she walked up to receive her award for being the best female athlete at the Labasa Muslim College grounds the announcer said the people there were looking at a future Makelesi Bulikiobo.
And why not.
