Coco Talanoa — Sports / Page 45

Carlos Ulberg recently returned from the WKG - World Kings Glory MMA tournament held in China where he had his first professional bout and came out on top.

We caught up with Carlos at the Pacific Fusion Fashion Show held in Auckland.

Check out Carlos' story on The Coconet TV.

Steven Adams tipped off the 1st of his 3 'Steven Adams Basketball Camps' this morning at the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland.

This is the 3rd year he's run the camps in NZ and he's extremely passionate about giving back to the sport and country that has given him so much.

Boys and girls of all skill levels aged between 7 - 17 have the opportunity at each of the camps to learn individual and team fundamentals from Adams and his Oklahoma City Thunder teammates and coaches, in an atmosphere where the young basketball players will have the opportunity to improve and have fun at the same time.

Each of the participants were also given a basketball and 'Steven Adams Basketball Camp' t.shirt as they walked through the doors.

We caught up with him at the Press Conference prior to the camp - here's what he had to say on a few subjects ....

On playing in the NBA Western Conference Playoffs

"Playoffs are just on a whole new level.…more

KRIT & THE IRON SQUAD 

Our roving correspondent Krit catches up with some well known faces from NRLs Cronulla Sharks & gets the low down on their 'Iron Squad' group.

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 NRL Must do more for Pacific Nations 

Redemption through Rugby League  

Carlos Ulberg grew up bouncing from foster home to foster home. Now he is about to travel to China for his first professional MMA fight. He tells us how his rough beginnings shaped him into the person he is today, as well as what it was like to train with Mark hunt in Las Vegas and what he hopes to achieve in the fight game.

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Carlos cooks up a meal for Pani & Pani on Mr Lavalava

Check out 11 year old Muay Thai fighter Rhyme 'THE RAGE' Loto

The world's Greatest Diver Ever!

Spectacular diving footage of Greg Louganis at the '84 Summer Games by legendary Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan.

Greg Louganis was born to parents of Samoan & Northern European ancestry.  They were both 15 yrs old and gave Greg up for adoption when he was 9 months old.   He started diving when he was 9yrs old winning his first championship at the Junior Olympics national competition at the age of 11yrs.

He had a troubled childhood but turned to diving as this was one area in his life which gave him self-confidence & success.

He went on to win numerous national & International Diving awards and is the only male & the 2nd diver in Olympic history to sweep the diving events in consecutive Olympic Games.  He won Gold at the 1984 & 1988 Olympics on both the Platform and Springboard.  In 1984, he received the James E. Sullivan Award from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) as the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.…more

11 Year Old Muay Thai Fighter 

11 year old Rhyme 'The Rage' Loto is about to fly out to Thailand to fight in the IFMA Youth World Championships. Last year he won the silver medal. This year he's hoping to bring home the gold.

You can donate to help with Rhymes expenses getting to Thailand by donating to his 'Give a Little' page here

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11 Year Old Rhyme raging to the top 

Mark Hunt Fighting the Past 

Today will be remembered as Fiji Day!

The Worlds Greatest Sevens team has won Fiji their first ever Olympic GOLD medal & their first ever Olympic medal in history!   Well played!!

You've shown us why you're truly the greatest 7s rugby team in the World.

Here are some of the highlights from the finals match today.

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Songs in the key of rugby 

Fijis Olympic Hopeful Winston Hill  

The Samoan Slammer 

Meet Joseph Kayes, the Kiwi born Samoan representing Australia at the Rio Olympics in .... wait for it .... Water Polo!   Seeing as many Samoans had their dreams shattered earlier in the week thinking Team Samoa had won a Gold Medal, we thought we'd introduce another medal contender they can put their hope in because well, hope is a beautiful thing!

5 things you should know about Joe:

#1 FAMILY - His grandparents are from Sapapali'i, Savaii in Samoa and made the move to NZ in the '60s.  His mother Dorcas is one of 8 children & married a kiwi - Paul Kayes.  Joe has 1 brother & sister.

#2  GROWING UP - He grew up in Tauranga, New Zealand and went to Mt Maunganui Intermediate & Mt Maunganui College.  He was a swimmer and surf lifesaver and first started playing Water Polo in Intermediate.  His father Paul built the pool at Bay of Plenty Polytech & also founded the Tauranga Water Polo Club in 2002.…more

Meet Tupuna Rangi 

While the world worked itself into a frenzy this week over an oiled-up Tongan Taekwon-do athlete during the opening of the Rio Olympic games;  on the other side of the world, a young Cook Islands Maori man was quietly winning a gold medal at the International Taekwon-Do Federation 2016 World Championships.

He posted these messages on his Facebook page after his win "Guess who got the Gold for the Taekwondo World Championship? Now I feel like a World Champion :) Proud to rep Aotearoa"

"1 Bronze, 2 Silver, 10 Gold medals and a Trophy.  Feels good being Grand Champion in Hawkes Bay and World Champion in England (Brighton).  Hopefully I can compete in the next World Champs in 2018 which will be held in Argentina"

Tupuna wearing his Gold Medal 

Twenty-one year old Tupuna Rangi (Rarotonga, Rakahanga) made sporting history this week when he competed in the first ever Special Needs Division of the ITF World Championships.…more

Meet our Pacific Island people representing us at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Special mention to Team Tuvalu who has 1 person in their team - Etimoni Timuani a 100m Sprint specialist!  

Coco congrats to everybody who made it to Rio, we wish you all the best as well as our Pacific Islanders representing New Zealand and Australia in this years Olympic Games in Rio.

Lets get behind our island nations - most of them have their team pages on Social Media accounts so follow along on their progress and send them messages of encouragement too!

AMERICAN SAMOA 

COOK ISLANDS 

FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA 

FIJI 

GUAM 

KIRIBATI 

MARSHALL ISLANDS 

NAURU 

PALAU 

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

SAMOA

SOLOMON ISLANDS 

 

 T

ONGA

 

 

TUVALU 

 

 

VANUATU