A former Olympian and rugby star has captured attention outside of the sporting world
Former Olympic sprinter and rugby league star Mateaki Mafi now works as a security guard in Cardiff.
The 53-year-old began his sporting career in athletics and was one of five Tongan competitors at the 1992 Olympics. A 200m sprinter, Mafi finished fifth in his heat, which included Team GB icon Linford Christie, with a time of 22.05 seconds.
While it was not enough to make the quarter-finals in Barcelona, he does have a framed picture of himself smiling alongside British sprinters John Regis and Christie. After being a teenage Olympian, Mafi subsequently pursued a rugby career.
He played for Warrington Wolves, making 23 appearances, and scored the team’s first-ever Super League try. Later signing for Workington, it was during his time at the club that Mafi lined up for Tonga against Wales in 1997, marking his only international rugby union appearance.
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Upon switching back to union, the Tongan international spent time with Duvant, Brigend and Tailbach and remains tied to Wales. His current job sees him operate as a night-time security guard at St David’s shopping centre, alongside some sports therapy work.
It is just another chapter in a life that has included fulfilling Olympic dreams and scoring historic tries. However, the scale of his early athletic achievements did not dawn on Mafi until a few years later.
Reflecting on his time at the Barcelona Olympics, he told The Times: “Probably I didn’t think of how big it is until I came to the UK. When people heard about me being in the Olympics, it was a massive thing.”
While he was one of several Pacific Island players in the UK at the time, Mafi confessed to occasionally feeling homesick during his career. A knee injury eventually saw him hang up his boots but he remained in Wales.
Although his primary job is as a security guard, Mafi’s passion has become handling Neapolitan mastiffs. He and his wife Kim recently celebrated Kumala getting a best of breed rosette at Crufts.
“Back home, dogs are wild there,” Mafi said to The Times. “I was bitten so many times. Kim had these dogs at the time. I don’t know, I just had a connection with the dogs. And Kim then taught me a lot. How to deal with dogs and calm them and all that stuff.”
On his love for dog handling, he continued: “I think it’s my competitive side. With the dogs, it’s individual, you’re there on your own, you’ve got to train and all that.
“You’re going into the ring and you can feel the surroundings around you. People with eyes on you, it doesn’t matter what the breed or breed class is or if it’s Crufts, it’s a horrible thing to feel, but you’ve got to train to get used to it, to feel that and then to take the pressure off you, and the more you do it, the better.”
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