Samoa has amassed five silver medals so far at the 2024 Oceania Athletics Championships in Suva Fiji. 

The five medals were won by hammer-thrower Shaka Sola and runner Darren Young.

At 47 and 53, Shaka Sola and Darren Young are two men on a mission.  They want to show their fellow Samoans that growing older doesn't mean one has to stop being an athlete.

They are competing as part of a 15-strong Athletics Samoa team. Unlike the others on the team, Sola and Young are entered in the Oceania Masters Champs for athletes aged 30 years and over.

Sola competes in the Hammer Throw, Shot Put, and Discus. Young runs in the 5000m, 8km Cross Country and the Half-Marathon.

Young earned the first silver on day one of competition in the 5000m with a time of 20 minutes and 20 seconds. Australia took the gold and Fiji the bronze. Then he earned another medal a few days later, this time in the 8km Cross Country, coming in second between two runners from Australia. Later this week he will run in the half-marathon.

Sola competed in the Hammer Throw on the second day of competition winning silver in his division with a throw of 32.43m. He added another silver to his collection in the Masters Men's Discus with a throw of 35.13. On Wednesday 5 June, he threw the shot put for another silver medal, taking Samoa's medal haul to five, midway through the week-long competition.

Both athletes have experience in international competitions.

Throughout his career, Sola has proudly represented Samoa at the Olympics, World Champs, and the Commonwealth Games, winning multiple gold medals at the Pacific Games, Mini-Games and Oceania Athletics Championships.

Since his ‘retirement’ from competition in 2007, Sola has been committed to coaching. Together with wife Bronwen, they run the Sola Power Throwing Academy in Wellington. This Oceania Athletics Champs is particularly meaningful for the Sola family as their two children are also competing for Samoa - daughter Mikayla in the shot put, hammer and discus, and son Kaleb in the javelin.

He told media, "It's a very special opportunity to compete with my children, in an international competition,  representing my country."

Young has represented Samoa at the World Cross Country, and at three Pacific Games including a team Bronze medal in 2019. He is currently Samoa’s champion in the 5km, half-marathon and marathon, and won the 2023 American Samoa International Marathon. He is also the current holder of the National record for the Super Sprint Triathlon and the Olympic Distance Triathlon. He has completed 17 Ironman races worldwide and in October he will represent Samoa in the Ironman World Champs in Kona, Hawaii. Young is a mentor for Samoa’s triathletes and together with wife Lani, they sponsor triathlons and running events for the community.

Young said of the event, "It's great to meet so many other athletes who haven't stopped competing just because they're getting older. I hope me and Shaka's achievements here can help motivate more of our people to keep going with their sport, no matter their age."