The first Tongan marathoner to compete in the Commonwealth Games has confirmed he will represent the kingdom in 2016 Olympic Games.
As part of his preparation for the Olympics, Tongia ‘Toni’ Vakaafi will be in Papua New Guinea next year to take part in the 2015 Pacific Games.
Known to many of his friends by the nickname, “Toni the Tongan Tornado”, he represented Tonga in the last Commonwealth Games.
The 39 year-old long-distance runner said: “he is grateful to his family for their faith in him and to the Kingdom of Tonga for giving him this opportunity to represent them and to realize his boyhood dream of competing in the Olympic Games”.
Toni from Vava’u group, Tonga’s second largest islands, is now living in Orem, Utah with wife Monica and they have five children.
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