Jeremy Dodson

Dodson rates debut race on Samoan soil as best experience ever

The 31 year-old was born and raised in the United States but qualifies for Samoa through his mother, who is from the village of Malie.

Dodson first represented Samoa four years ago but said to compete in Samoa in front of a Samoan crowd was an incredible experience.

Samoa's Jeremy Dodson ready for Rio debut

RNZ reports the 28 year old was born and bred in the United States but said he had been overwhelmed by the support he's received from the Samoan community, and is hoping to repay that faith on the track.

"It's the biggest stage and there's no better way to make a big statement than at the biggest stage. Hopefully when I get down there some great expectations will come to fruition and it can come out of it a great experience in the end," he said.

For Pacific athletes, getting to worlds is what matters most

After work, it's back to the track, where he runs alone. “I have a coach, but no more athletes, they've all gone to college,” he says.

For Ngirchongor, all the hard work paid off this week when he competed on the same track as Usain Bolt in the preliminaries of the 200 meters at the world championships.

He posted the slowest time of all 54 runners in the field, finishing more than three seconds behind Bolt, but set a new personal best of 23.93 seconds.