By Toleafoa Douglas Creevey in London

Bluesky Team Samoa have a rest day Sunday after the Opening Ceremony hype while many other sports continue and the early medals of the London Games are awarded.

While news in the Athletes Village was abuzz yesterday with the first Gold medal of the London Games being awarded to China in Women’s Shooting, Samoa continued its own preparations.

Having already been to the Weightlifting team training the previous day, I travelled yesterday with our Taekwando team to watch Talitiga Crawley and Kaino Thomsen Fuataga. I witnessed a high intensity workout as TKD Master Kesi O’neill pushed our two young black-belts through a gruelling but targeted routine of kicks and competition fighting strategies. Four large 10 metre mats allowed each team to train separately in their strictly scheduled timeslot with high drawn curtains for privacy. However, the whole training gym echoed repeated loud screams and energetic cries from all the different international athletes, as is common with many martial arts. As I tried desperately to capture any useful photographs of the swift kicking techniques by our athletes for our internet site, other coaches appeared suspicious of my camera as they trained their own protégés.

Samoa TKD President and Parliamentarian Hon. Muagututagata Peter Ah Him, who has paid his own way to London to assist with his competitors, manned the stopwatch as the two athletes were alternatively cycled through repeated sessions with Master Kesi and nodded to me each time another competitor walked past that would be meeting Talitiga or Kaino.

Ah Him commented, “Our team is very fit and we have all worked very hard to qualify for these our first Olympics, plus some competition experience in Korea the homeland of Taekwando. Here, they will be matched with the very best and experienced in the world. Our target is to perform to their best ability to register a first win in Olympic competition.�?

Later that evening all of Bluesky Team Samoa were summoned to a meeting hosted at the Oceania NOC offices. There the team was met by the Samoa Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, the Hon. Magele Mauiliu and the ACEO of Sports Luatua Semi Epati who had called in to visit our team while on an official trip to Europe. The Minister shared a motivational message encouraging all the athletes to develop and maintain strong “Self-Belief�? throughout this Olympic experience citing the David and Goliath biblical analogy.

The Minister then announced acknowledgement and assistance from Government following a recent decision by Cabinet for the first time to award $5000 Tala to each of the 8 athletes who have worked hard to prepare for and represent Samoa at these Olympic Games. Cheques were then presented to each of the 8 very appreciative athletes, and although several commented most of their costly financial requirements were in the preparations for the Games, the unexpected allocation from Government has offered added motivation ahead of their respective competition events.

This first week’s participation at the Games for Team Samoa: (Samoa 12 hours ahead of UK Time).

• Aleni Smith heads straight into the Elimination competition for the Men’s Judo 77kg+ category 9.30am Monday morning UK (9.30pm Monday evening, Samoa Time) meeting Jaromir Jezek of the Czeck Republic. Successive Judo rounds will continue throughout the day for winning fighters until Medals are awarded later that evening.

• Archery Elimination competition on Tuesday 12.40pm UK for Maureen Tuimalealiifano. She is drawn against the 2nd seed Sung Jin LEE from Korea, an Olympian since Athens in 2004 and rated 28 in the world. Maureen scored a new Personal Best in preliminary rounds on Friday and has a world ranking of 227.

* In Weightlifting Toafitu Perive lifts in the Mens 77kg class on Wed 1st August 10.00am UK

* Men’s Shot Put will see Emanuele Fuamatu compete on Friday Aug 3rd 10am UK

* Ele Opeloge lifts in the Womens 75kg+ class on Sunday 5th Aug 3.30pm UK

Well wishes from thousands of Samoans all around the world continue to be posted at the Team

Samoa page on Facebook which have been shared with our athletes to encourage them.

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