Ele Opeloge
Template:Short description Template:Infobox sportsperson Ele Opeloge (born July 11, 1985)[1] is a Samoan weightlifter. She was the first Samoan to win an Olympic medal, winning silver in the women's +75 kg category at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.[2]
Family
Opeloge comes from a weightlifting family.[2] Her brother, Niusila is also a Commonwealth gold medalist, winning it the same day as her. Four other relatives have also competed at Commonwealth level.[3] Her twin sister is Larissa Tara. She is the mother of weightlifter Avatu Opeloge.[4]
Career
2007
At the 2007 World Championships she ranked 11th, with a combined lift of 250 kg.[1]
2008
She represented Samoa at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, competing in the over 75kg category. She was also her country's flagbearer during the Games' opening ceremony.[3]
Opeloge finished fourth in her event, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal. She lifted 269 kg, matching her personal best, while Mariya Grabovetskaya of Kazakhstan lifted 270 kg to finish third.[5] In August 2016, the IWF reported in the IOC reanalysis of the 2008 Beijing Olympics that the silver and bronze medalists - Olha Korobka of Ukraine, and Mariya Grabovetskaya - had failed retests of their doping samples. The IWF later reallocated medals accordingly,[6] elevating Opeloge to become the silver medalist and also the first-ever Olympic medalist from Samoa.[7]
Opeloge is a celebrity in Samoa, "where children approach her in the supermarket for autographs".[5]
2010
Opeloge won a gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India in the +75 kg class with a Games record combined lift of 285 kg.[8][9] It was also Samoa's second gold medal in the history of the Games.[8]
2012
Opeloge took 5th place in the London Olympics.[10] Her build up to the Olympics were disrupted by chicken pox and typhoid.[3]
2014
Opeloge was the Samoan flagbearer for the 2014 Commonwealth Games,[11] as well as being one of the baton carriers as the Queen's baton made its way through Samoa.[3] At the Games she won the silver medal in the +75 kg category.[3]
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b "Tears instead of dreams for Samoan", Reuters, August 16, 2008
- ↑ http://www.iwf.net/results/results-by-events/?event=21 Template:Webarchive IWF Results by Events. XXIX OLYMPIC GAMES
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
External links
Template:Footer Commonwealth Games Champions Weightlifting Women Super Heavyweight
- Pages with script errors
- Living people
- 1985 births
- Samoan female weightlifters
- Weightlifters at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Weightlifters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Samoa
- Olympic weightlifters for Samoa
- Weightlifters at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Weightlifters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Samoa
- Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic medalists in weightlifting
- Olympic silver medalists for Samoa
- Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
- Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
- Pacific Games gold medalists for Samoa
- Pacific Games medalists in weightlifting
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists in weightlifting
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists in weightlifting