Samoa

The 31 year-old was born and raised in the United States but qualifies for Samoa through his mother, who is from the village of Malie.

Dodson first represented Samoa four years ago but said to compete in Samoa in front of a Samoan crowd was an incredible experience.

Neither rain nor clouds could dampen the mood of the July 15^th afternoon.

The decathlon got underway at Apia Park Stadium with the 100m sprint followed by long jump, shot put, high jump and the 400m under the shadow of the Pacific Games torch blazing through the gloomy sky.

Iga, whose forte is the pole vault, one of the five remaining events of the men’s decathlon, currently sits at second place on the results table in his bid for a medal.

Emilene Taulu, captain of the Cook Islands team who had won bronze yesterday, was taken by surprise when her partner Tupuga Amo proposed following a group haka.

Amo, who is also coach of the Cook Islands' men's va'a team, popped the question after the women's team had received their medals – and Taulu said yes.

Afterwards, Taulu admitted to the Pacific Games News Service that she had suspected a proposal was on the way but had not expected it to be at such a high-profile location.

The women prevailed 16-4 in the gold medal match at Apia Park to become the event's first ever women's rugby league champions.

Fiji captain Timaima Ravisa opened the scoring with a breakaway try late in the first half and capped the result with an intercept try after the full-time siren had sounded.

An emotional Ravisa said PNG is a tough team to beat but they worked hard on defence and were able to capitalise on their opponents mistakes.

The competition was recently dominated by Fiji at the last Pacific Games with four gold, two silver and two bronze medals across men’s and women’s events.

The event will also feature popular names that will be defending their titles.

The young Cook Islands men’s pair Taiki Paniani and Aidan Zittersteijn, who won bronze at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (the country’s first ever Commonwealth Games medal) will be competing at Samoa 2019 in all four men’s events, and gunning for further silverware.

Fiji, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tahiti will contest singles, doubles, mixed doubles and team events for men and women.

PNG, New Caledonia and Fiji are expected to dominate after sharing 21 available medals amongst them at the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby.

New Caledonia’s Nicolas Massenet who won gold in the men’s singles, men’s doubles and men’s team competition at Port Moresby 2015 is returning to defend all of his titles.

On the tenth leg of the relay, athletes from Vanuatu and Tonga ran together with the students from George Brown Primary School, a Methodist Church of Samoa school.

Many of the schools representing the different countries that are participating in the Samoa 2019 Pacific Games have brought a new audience to support the torch relay - people from neighbouring countries.

The students braved intermittent rain to perform anthems and traditional dances from French Polynesia, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia as the flags of those countries were raised on the lawns of Falefono.

Sene Palepua, the vice principal of Maile Primary School that represented Palau at the ceremony, said her 445 students rose to the challenge of learning Palau’s national anthem, despite its unfamiliar words and sounds.

Torch Relay Coordinator, Tafaese Spencer Tautu from the Ministry of Education Sports (MESC), believes there is great significance in the torch as Samoa prepares to host the Games.

“There is power in the torch that can mend bridges and bring different villages to ignite under the slogan of the Games and that is ‘one in spirit,’ he said. “I never imagined this would be the response of the people. This is the first time the Head of State has received the torch baton twice, first at his home at Falelatai and, again, yesterday at his residence in Vailele.”

There are different local caterers assigned to every venue’s dining halls, including on Savai’i, where Boxing will take place, with test runs of all their menus in preparation when the Games open on Sunday 7 July.

“There are caterers specifically for athletes and Technical Officialsand others for volunteersandVIPs,” said Analosa Manuele, Catering Coordinator of the Pacific Games Office.

“For the Pacific Games, we are working together with the caterers to make sure that the meals provided are hot, fresh, nutritious and safe for consumption.