Sir Keith Maddocks, Governor of Fiji, presents Rahim Zullah with his tennis gold medal at the first-ever pacific Games in 1963 Photo: Supplied
A commemorative blazer worn by gold medal-winning tennis player Rahim Zullah at the first-ever Pacific Games has been presented to the Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee.
The presentation was part of the 60th anniversary of the Games.
Inside the Games reports Zullah wore the blazer at the event in Suva in 1963.
Pacific Games Council President Vidhya Lakhan maintains the importance of the Pacific Games to the region's athletes who may not get the chance to go to the Olympics.
"This is our continental Games and is also an opportunity for athletes from the Oceania to qualify for either the Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games as it is a recognised qualifying Games for certain sports," he said.
He said this is the Pacific's continental Games and is also an opportunity for athletes from Oceania to qualify for either the Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games in certain sports.
The Games were originally called the South Pacific Games and was thought up by Dr Abdul Habib Sahu Khan, who was one of Fiji's representatives at a meeting of the South Pacific Commission in 1959.
"The idea gained momentum and was embraced by the South Pacific Commission," said Lakhan.
The inaugural South Pacific Games saw more than 770 athletes and officials from 13 nations participate, with Fiji represented by the largest team of 187.
Since then, Fiji has staged it on two more occasions, in 1979 and 2003.
Zullah, who was part of a winning mixed team - the only tennis event that year - kept his blazer and now resides in Brisbane, Australia.
He decided to donate it to FASNOC.
The 17th edition is due to take place in Honiara, Solomon Islands from November 19 to December 2.