Fafeita's discus record may not be recognised

Talented Wairarapa thrower Alex Fafeita crushed the existing record when winning the boys 14yrs discus title at the Wellington junior track and field championships last weekend but whether his effort will be officially recognised is still a matter of debate.
Fafeita went into his Newtown Park event odds on to break the existing record of 42.91secs, which had stood since 2001, after a wonderful run of form.
This included smashing the decade-long Wairarapa College record for the under 15yrs boys discus of 36.09m with a throw of 45.28m and the Wairarapa inter-collegiate record of 44.21 set in 1984 by his now coach, John Quinn, with a throw of 48.98m.
After which he won the Wellington secondary schools title with a distance of 49.50m.
It didn't take long for Fafeita to show his intentions last weekend either.
His first throw of 43.52m set a new mark for his age group and his second looked to sail past 50 metres but unfortunately his foot went out of the circle and it did not count.
Then on his last turn he came up with a distance of 48.54m, therefore beating the old record by all of 5.62m.
It was when officials decided after the event to check the weight of the discus used by Fafeita that questions over the new record being recognised were raised.
The weight was supposed to be 1.25kg with about a 10-15g margin or error and Fafeita was mortified to find the implement he had used was 30g under the allowable weight.
Making matters even more frustrating for Fafeita was that before the event he had actually asked the officials if the weight of the said discus had been checked and whether he could weigh in and use his own personal discus.
He was told everything was in order but that he could throw with his own discus if he wanted, providing, of course, it was weighed.
The problem there was that the shed containing the scales was locked so Fafeita decided to use the discus provided instead, a decision which ultimately could cost him the record.
Currently the situation is in the hands of the Wellington centre's junior committee with their ruling expected within the next few days.
His discus success was not the only title win for Alex Fafeita at the Newtown Park meet held over two weekends as he had earlier won the boys 14yrs shot put title with a put of 12.24m.
Courtenay Fafeita, sister of Alex, also broke the existing record when she threw 36.74m in the girls 15yrs discus event at the Wellington junior championships but while it was well over the old mark of 30.76m set in 1991 it definitely won't count, simply because Leesa Lealai-Salanoa from Titahi Bay came up with an amazing effort of 46.40m to relegate Fafeita to second place.
Both these girls had broken the 14yrs discus record at the same meet 12 months previously only Fafeita took the honours on that occasion.
Since then Salanoa has made remarkable progress and is already being talked about as a future Olympic medallist.
Salanoa had earlier broken the girls 15yrs shot put record with Fafeita the runner-up in that event too with a season's best throw of 9.27m.
The two Fafeitas are competing at the New Zealand track and field championships being held at Newtown Park this coming weekend with their best results there likely to come in the hammer throw.
Alex, at just 14, will be competing against 16-year-olds in the discus and will also be throwing the heavier 1.5kg implement while Courtenay, who won the national discus title last year, goes into this year's discus event ranked fourth, with Salanoa and two Auckland girls seeded above her.
Another up-and-coming thrower from the Wairarapa region is Maria Taylor, sister of current Black Caps star Ross Taylor, She won the Wellington junior title in the 12yrs discus with a personal best effort of 26.97m and the following weekend she won the girls 12yrs shot put with a throw of 9.07m.
Summer Pritchard also had good results, placing third in the girls 13yrs discus with a distance of 23.67m and second in the shot put with 9.07m. Nathan Whiteman, 8, was third in the shot put with 7.13m, fourth in the discus after two no throws and third in the long jump with a leap of 3.47m.