Ele Opeloge
Personal information
Born (1985-07-11) July 11, 1985
Apia, Samoa
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight124 kg (273 lb)
Sport
Country Samoa
SportWeightlifting
EventWomen's +75 kg
Medal record
Women's Weightlifting
Representing  Samoa
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing +75 kg
Oceania Weightlifting Championships
Gold medal – first place 2007 Apia +75 kg
Gold medal – first place 2008 Auckland +75 kg
Silver medal – second place 2006 Apia +75 kg
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Delhi +75 kg
Silver medal – second place 2014 Glasgow +75 kg
Pacific Games
Gold medal – first place 2007 Apia +75 kg
Gold medal – first place 2011 Nouméa +75 kg
Gold medal – first place2015 Port Moresby+75 kg

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 total 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 - 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 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

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

  1. 1 2 "OPELOGE Ele". International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 2011-05-27.
  2. 1 2 "Meet the Opeloges: Samoa's first family of weightlifting". RNZ. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Glasgow 2014 - Ele Opeloge Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2015-11-27.
  4. ↑ "Samoa's Teenage Lifters Shine at Pacific Mini Games 2022". Samoa Global News. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Tears instead of dreams for Samoan", Reuters, August 16, 2008
  6. ↑ 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
  7. ↑ "Samoan weightlifter Ele Opeloge could be about to win her country's first ever Olympic medal". 25 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  8. 1 2 Ele Opeloge gives Samoa second gold medal The Hindu. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  9. ↑ Opeloge siblings have a field day Deccan Herald. Retrieved 10 October 2010
  10. ↑ "Ele Opeloge Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2015-11-27.
  11. ↑ "Pacific athletes 'honoured' to carry national flags at Commonwealth Games opening ceremony". ABC. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
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