Ricky Nalatu

Rick Nalatu
Birth nameRick Nalatu
Date of birth (1972-12-01) 1 December 1972 (age 52)[1]
Place of birthFiji
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight104 kg (16 st 5 lb)
SchoolSandgate State High School
Rugby union career
Current team Retired
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2006-? Reds ()
National sevens team
Years Team Comps
– Australia 7s 56

Rick Nalatu (born 1 December 1972) is a Fijian-Australian former sprinter and rugby union player who played as a winger.

Early and personal life

Nalatu was born in Fiji and moved to Australia when he was 2 years old.

He was educated at the Sandgate State High School in Brisbane. In 1984, he played in the school's undefeated premiership-winning 1st XV. He later studied education at the Queensland University of Technology.[2]

He began his sporting career as a sprinter, and was a regular on the athletics track at one point at National level, where he was competitive with one of the fastest generations of Australian sprinters including Damien Marsh, Steve Brimacombe and Dean Capobianco.[3] He competed against US sprint legend Michael Johnson in the 1994 Australian 100 m championships won by Marsh. In 1995 he tied with Marsh and Victorian runner Andrew Murphy with a time of 10.50s.[4][5]

Rugby career

Nalatu switched to rugby in the late 1990's[6] and won a bronze medal as part of the Australian Rugby 7's team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.[2] He later played wing for the Reds, where he made his debut in 2006 against the Sharks.

References

  1. ^ "Ricky NALATU". World Athletics. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b "QUT athletes lived an experience of a lifetime" (PDF). Inside QUT. No. 183. October 1998. p. 8. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  3. ^ Athletics Australia (1 March 2017). "Australian all-time athletics rankings" (PDF). Athletics.com.au.
  4. ^ "Marsh pips rivals to take grand prix dash honours". Canberra Times. 24 February 1995. p. 24. Retrieved 2 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Men's sprints the focus at athletics meet". Canberra Times. 4 March 1995. p. 16. Retrieved 2 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Wallabies player search looks at volleyball, wrestling". Stuff. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2023.