An Indigenous sailor who has never owned a boat is the flagbearer for Fiji for Paris Games

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Growing up in Fiji in the South Pacific, Viliame Ratulu saw sailing as a “rich man’s sport.”

The 24-year-old Ratulu has never owned a boat, but he is primed to become the first I-Taukei Indigenous sailor to compete at the Olympics. He also is the male flagbearer for the Paris Games for his island nation, which is best known in the sports world for rugby.

“Whenever I’m on the water, it’s my home,” Ratulu said Thursday as he prepared for training at the Olympic marina in Marseille in southern France. “It’s just in us as Polynesians, because our ancestors sailed.”

It was during an escapade at age 9 with friends in the Fiji town of Savusavu — where his family rarely took him because it had no extra cash for treats like candy — when he got off to a memorable start in sailing. Ratulu and his friends saw some boats bobbing in the water as their owners went in for lunch, and they jumped into one.

While they were out “just having fun,” Ratulu saw a dinghy coming at them and thought, “Oh no, we’re dead.” At the time he didn’t speak English, only Fijian, so he nodded yes and no to the man in the dinghy — who taught the group how to bring the boat back to shore instead of scolding Ratulu and his friends.

That was the beginning of Ratulu’s relationship with local sailing coach Geoff Taylor. At Taylor’s invitation, Ratulu started sailing every Saturday. Some weekends, Ratulu was so excited he ran about 5 km (3.1 miles) into town before Taylor picked him up.

Ratulu’s first national competition was his first time away from Savusavu, and the dream really set in.

He trained with the Youth Emerging Nations program organized by World Sailing, the sport’s governing body. Its aim is to help sailors from countries without Olympic sailing histories, broadening the sport’s appeal, said Cat Duncan, World Sailing’s development manager.

At the 2024 Olympics, there will be 26 sailors from the organization’s major development system — more than triple the number from the Tokyo Games — representing countries as diverse as Mozambique and El Salvador. Most are competing in the dinghies or windsurfing, where the equipment and travel costs are far more manageable than other Olympic boats.

Ratulu is in the regattas that begin on Sunday. For the regattas, dinghies are provided to sailors about a week before the competition.

Back in Savusavu, there is a lot of excitement over Ratulu carrying the flag and competing. Everyone knows him, where he lives and works, he said with a grin. But nobody has been able to come to France to support him, except for a childhood friend who is playing rugby for Fiji in the Olympics.

Ratulu knows other sailors have the technology and practice advantages that go along with strong financial resources. Ratulu says he will rely on his love for the sea, and, as a practicing Christian, his prayers for protection.

“I got air in my lungs and my God up there,” he said with a wide smile, before rigging up his dinghy and taking off in the hot, calm Mediterranean.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games