Heleina Young

After six years away, former Fiji 7s rep Heleina Young is returning to track and field.

The 24-year-old’s athletic journey took an unexpected turn when she joined the Queensland Reds in 2023 and then the Fiji 7s rugby team in 2024.

However, a knee injury sidelined her from the HSBC SVNS tournaments in April 2024, interrupting her rugby career.

Young’s rugby contract concluded in December 2024, paving the way for her return to her track roots.

“I was in rehab for about eight, nine months, and I finally returned to the track. I had started my rehab program here on the track with just working on running from, and that was where I kind of decided that I wanted to make a comeback to the track. I’ve been here ever since Jan of 202,5 and so far, so good.”

While the environment is familiar, she noted the presence of many new and younger athletes forming a strong Fiji team.

She humorously reflected on her transition from being a younger competitor in 2019 to now being considered a senior athlete.

Regardless of preparation or training time, she acknowledged that nerves are an inevitable part of competition.

“Training’s been going well; it’s been pretty tough coming from like a team environment back into an individual sport. There’s no doubt training is difficult no matter where you are, which sport you play, but yeah, it’s been good being back.”

In 2018, she set impressive records in the Coca-Cola Games Intermediate Girls division: 11.87 seconds in the 100m and 24.33 seconds in the 200m finals.

She further solidified her talent with a personal best of 11.82 seconds in the 100m, earning a silver medal at the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa.

She also clinched a gold medal in the 4 x 100m sprint relay, which was her last year competing nationally in track events.

Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.