This year’s Coca-Cola games will be different because now, every athlete has to meet the qualifying standards, a new rule that’s being enforced for the first time.

This idea was considered, tried and tested before but faced resistance from Zone delegates, delaying its implementation.

According to Fiji Secondary School Athletics Association acting Secretary Biu Colati this has been decided to be made compulsory moving forward and it means every athlete will compete on an equal footing, making the competition more interesting.

“Now they are all coming in with similar time and distances and that means that we have a set of athletes who will compete against each other who have attained some sort of standards.”

Colati adds that the participating athletes have undergone two qualifying rounds, one in Suva and one in the West.

This means they’re familiar with their opponents’ abilities, having qualified through specific standards.

He confirms that this format will continue in the future, with only qualified athletes participating.

The acting Secretary adds that this will make the games even more exciting and competitive.