Samoan athlete Alex Rose made history as the first Pacific Islands athlete since 1999 to make the final of the World Athletics Championship 2022 in the U.S. state of Oregon. 

On his first throw as discus thrower, he launched the discuss 65.57 meters in field landing him fourth in the first round. His first throw was enough to get him into eighth place, making it his best throw in the competition. 

He competed in the World Athletics Championship 2022 in Oregon to come eighth in his overall standing.

Rose finished eighth in the world, marking a milestone for himself and for Samoa, and will represent Samoa in the discus throw event at the Commonwealth Games in the United Kingdom.

The Oceania Athletics pages posted an interview with Mr. Rose who expressed his excitement at his eighth placing and is looking forward to performing well at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. 

"It feels incredible, I can't explain the feeling I had when I knew I secured that twelfth placed spot in qualifying to secure a spot in the finals," the Samoan athlete said. 

"My whole goal was to get into the final and I had nothing to lose. If I three fouls because I was throwing too hard, that's fine but I'm gonna throw hard. 

"To get eighth is just incredible I never would've imagined I'd be in a world final representing the small island of Samoa, it's incredible."

Asked how he felt about the Commonwealth Games as he is ranked second behind Matthew Denny, who qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics making it to the finals, Rose said: "Matt Denny, he's an incredible competitor, everyone knows that he shows up when he needs to.

"So it's going to be a dog fight out there but I'm so excited to throw there and do my best. I'll see what I can do." 

Rose will be joining Team Samoa in Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games which will unite athletes from 72 countries where he will compete with Denny.