Barred but not broken: Daunakamakama turns heartbreak into Commonwealth Games drive

By Taina Basiyalo 

The moment Jasmine Daunakamakama was told she could not compete at last year’s World Boxing Championships was one of the toughest of her young career.

Months of preparation ended without the Fijian even stepping into the ring after she was barred from competing because her mandatory gender eligibility test arrived late — a requirement introduced by World Boxing following the controversy surrounding the women’s competition at the Paris Olympics.

For many athletes, it would have been a crushing setback.

For Daunakamakama, it became the motivation behind her historic Commonwealth Games campaign.

Now, the 21-year-old is preparing to become the first Fijian woman to compete in boxing at the Commonwealth Games when she faces Ghana in the women’s 57kg division on Sunday.

Rather than dwelling on last year’s disappointment, Daunakamakama says the experience taught her resilience.

“I was quite emotional hearing the news because we’d trained for months, and I missed the chance to improve my world ranking. But in boxing, you’re faced with a lot of uncomfortable situations. I’ve learned to be resilient and look for how I can benefit from every challenge because there’s always a lesson to be learned.”

Instead of returning home defeated, Daunakamakama stayed in Liverpool, sparring athletes from several countries to make the most of the opportunity.

Those valuable rounds, combined with a two-week training camp in Ireland ahead of the Games, have helped shape what she believes is the best preparation of her career.

“The preparations for this Commonwealth Games have been the best so far. We had a two-week camp in Ireland that really tested our skills and our mental space. This is my third year in the elite category, and I feel like I’ve learned so much. Now it’s about putting everything together and expressing myself in the ring.”

Making her Commonwealth Games debut carries extra significance.

As Fiji’s lone female boxer and the country’s first woman to compete in boxing at the Games, Daunakamakama knows she is helping pave the way for future generations.

She also joins a growing number of female boxers from across Oceania, with Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Niue and Tuvalu also fielding women’s boxers.

Despite the historic milestone, she says she isn’t burdened by the expectation.

“I can’t complain if I’m doing something that I love.”

Her opening bout against Ghana’s Adelaide Dede Djabatey will also be familiar territory, having previously sparred her opponent during the training camp in Ireland.

Now fully adjusted to the Scottish conditions after almost three weeks in Europe, Daunakamakama says her focus is simple.

“I just want to step into the ring and express myself in my truest form. All the years, months and days of preparation. I want to put it all out there. If that’s good enough, then that will be perfect. I just want to make Fiji proud.”

After the heartbreak of watching an opportunity slip away last year, Daunakamakama finally gets her chance.

And when she climbs through the ropes on Sunday at 7pm at the Scottish Event Campus she will do so carrying not the weight of disappointment, but the confidence built from overcoming it.