Joji Veremalua said attending two courses run by FASANOC will help his Tokyo 2020 preparations ©FASANOC

Karateka Joji Veremalua has claimed attending courses run by the Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) helped him understand what it will take for him to appear at Tokyo 2020.

Karate is due to make its Olympic debut at the next edition of the Summer Games in the Japanese capital city.

Veremalua is a figure who is tipped to be part of Fiji’s team that flies out to Tokyo in three year’s time.

As part of his preparations, he has atteneded two FASANOC Olympic Sports Education Programme (OESP) courses.

One of the courses was about strength and conditioning, which give athletes from the country the chance to hear from coaches and Olympians about their experiences at the Games and preparing for them.

Among the speakers at the courses Veremalua attended included Naca Cawanibuka, the strength and conditioning of the gold medal-winning Fiji men’s rugby sevens team from Rio 2016.

Their success was the first time the country had won a medal at any Olympics.

Naca Cawanibuka was one of the speakers at the courses attended by Joji Veremalua ©Getty Images
Naca Cawanibuka was one of the speakers at the courses attended by Joji Veremalua ©Getty Images

Veremalua also attended a sports in communities OSEP course, which discussed the jobs done by coaches and backroom staff before and during the Games.

"I've attended two OSEP courses and both have opened my eyes in what I may have been doing wrong and what I have been doing right these past few years," Veremalua said.

"The first OSEP course I attended was a Sports in Communities course and it allowed me to know what administrators and those behind the scene actual go through.

"It was an eye opener and I've learned a new respect for those that help athletes before and after games."