In a recent publication, we proposed two possible wave functions for the elementary excitations of the SU͑3͒ Haldane-Shastry model, but argued on very general grounds that only one or the other can be a valid excitation. Here we provide the explicit details of our calculation proving that the wave function describing a coloron excitation which transforms according to representation 3 under SU͑3͒ rotations if the spins of the original model transform according to representation 3, is exact. We further provide an explicit construction of the exact color-polarized two-coloron eigenstates, and thereby show that colorons are free but that their relative momentum spacings are shifted according to fractional statistics with parameter g =2/3. We evaluate the SU͑3͒ spin currents. Finally, we interpret our results within the framework of the asymptotic Bethe ansatz and generalize some of them to the case of SU͑n͒.spacing is a direct manifestation of the fractional statistics 23,24 of the colorons with a statistical exclusion parameter of g =2/3. This value is consistent with what we find by naive state counting. We then proceed by calculating the FIG. 1. ͑Color online͒ Weight diagrams of the SU͑3͒ representations 3 and 3 ͑reproduced with permission from Ref. 14͒. J 3 and J 8 denote the diagonal generators. 25