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]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | July 11, 1985 Apia, Samoa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 124 kg (273 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Samoa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Weightlifting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Women's 75 kg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Family
editOpeloge 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
edit2007
editAt the 2007 World Championships she ranked 11th, with a total of 250 kg.[1]
2008
editShe 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 - 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
editOpeloge won a gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India in over 75 kg class with a Games record of 285 kg.[8][9] It was also Samoa's second gold medal in the history of the Games.[8]
2012
editOpeloge took 5th place in the London Olympics.[10] Her build up to the Olympics were disrupted by chicken pox and typhoid.[3]
2014
editOpeloge 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
edit- ^ a b "OPELOGE Ele". International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 2011-05-27.
- ^ a b "Meet the Opeloges: Samoa's first family of weightlifting". RNZ. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Glasgow 2014 - Ele Opeloge Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2015-11-27.
- ^ "Samoa's Teenage Lifters Shine at Pacific Mini Games 2022". Samoa Global News. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ a b "Tears instead of dreams for Samoan", Reuters, August 16, 2008
- ^ http://www.iwf.net/results/results-by-events/?event=21 Archived 2012-08-02 at the Wayback Machine IWF Results by Events. XXIX OLYMPIC GAMES
- ^ "Samoan weightlifter Ele Opeloge could be about to win her country's first ever Olympic medal". 25 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
- ^ a b Sabanayakan, S. (11 October 2010). "Ele Opeloge gives Samoa second gold medal". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ "Opeloge siblings have a field day". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 10 October 2010. [dead link]
- ^ "Ele Opeloge Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2015-11-27.
- ^ "Pacific athletes 'honoured' to carry national flags at Commonwealth Games opening ceremony". ABC. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
External links
edit- Ele Opeloge at Olympics.com
- Ele Opeloge at Olympedia
- Ele Opeloge at the Commonwealth Games Federation (archived)
- Ele Opeloge at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games (archived)
- Ele Opeloge at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games (archived)
- Athlete Biography at beijing2008 at the Wayback Machine (archived August 10, 2008)
