Tuvaluan boxer scores first-ever medal for her country in Commonwealth Games without winning a fight

Tarona Taafaki makes history for the Pacific island country

Fighting in the 75kg category, the Tuvaluan boxer couldn’t manage to win a single round in the semi-final bout.

Losing to India’s Lovlina Borgohain, Taafaki was awarded a bronze medal.

As per Commonwealth Games rules, boxers reaching that stage of the competition are awarded a bronze medal. 

Despite only five women joining the competition in the 75kg category, Taafaki’s prestation had a larger significance outside the ring rather than in it.

The 20 year old made history by winning Tuvalu’s first-ever medal in the Commonwealth Games.

Tuvalu, a small Pacific island, is the fourth smallest nation on earth with a population under 10,000, covering 26.26km squared (10.14 square miles).

Taafaki mentions that people have always asked her where she is from, to which she replies: "I say I'm Tuvaluan and they don't even know where it is.”

In hopes her success will inspire other Tuvaluans, she said she was "honoured to represent my small nation

"They can get gold, when I didn't get it,” she added after her bronze medal was confirmed.

Bronze medalist Tarona Khanum Badi Pasoni Taafaki of Team Tuvalu. Image: Getty.

Taafaki comes from a lineage of boxers, including her eight siblings who all compete to some degree. 

Her brother, Pasoni, 18, has also competed in the Commonwealth Games in the 70kg division. 

Their coach and father, Badi Taafaki, says the medal is a matter of celebration for Tuvaluans.

"We're one of the smallest nations in the world, so a medal like this is hugely significant,” he said. 

“We have worked so hard to get here. For me as a coach, it's a stepping stone."

However, Tarona Taafaki’s achievement can also highlight ongoing climate change related issues according to her father. 

Funafuti, Tuvalu's capital, could be submerged by 2050 according to experts.

"The coastal erosion is unbelievable, and the countdown is now measured in years, not decades. 

“Some islands have lost half their land," said Babi Taafaki, adding that the issue is "very real for us.”

Athletes from the small nation tend to train on the airport runway, as it is one of the only stable land masses. 

He added that when planes come in “everyone moves aside. As soon as it leaves, we go back on the tarmac, because there is nowhere else to train.”

Nevertheless, the bronze medal has been a stepping stone for aspirational Tuvaluan athletes.

Tarona Taafaki’s accomplishment will forever be etched in stone as the first athlete to win a medal for her country.