Ele Opeloge
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| Born | July 11, 1985 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 124 kg (273 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country |
 Samoa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Weightlifting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Women's +75 kg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ele Opeloge (born July 11, 1985)[1] is a Samoan weightlifter competing in the women's +75 kg category.
Family
Opeloge comes from a weightlifting family. 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.[2]
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.[2]
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.[3] In August 2016, the IWF reported in the IOC reanalysis of the 2008 Beijing Olympics that the silver and bronze medallists - Olha Korobka of Ukraine, and Mariya Grabovetskaya - failed retests of their doping samples. If confirmed, Opeloge would become the silver medallist and also become the first-ever Olympic medallist from Samoa.[4]
Opeloge is a celebrity in Samoa, "where children approach her in the supermarket for autographs".[3]
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.[5][6] It was also Samoa's second gold medal in the history of the Games.[5]
2012
Opeloge took 6th place in the London Olympics.[7] Her build up to the Olympics were disrupted by chicken pox and typhoid.[2]
2014
Opeloge was the Samoan flagbearer for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, as well as being one of the baton carriers as the Queen's baton made its way through Samoa.[2] At the Games she won the silver medal in the +75 kg category.[2]
References
- 1 2 "OPELOGE Ele". International Weightlifting Federation.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Glasgow 2014 - Ele Opeloge Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2015-11-27.
- 1 2 "Tears instead of dreams for Samoan", Reuters, August 16, 2008
- ↑ "Samoan weightlifter Ele Opeloge could be about to win her country's first ever Olympic medal". Retrieved 2016-08-27.
- 1 2 Ele Opeloge gives Samoa second gold medal The Hindu. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
- ↑ Opeloge siblings have a field day Deccan Herald. Retrieved 10 October 2010
- ↑ "Ele Opeloge Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-11-27.
External links
- Athlete Biography at beijing2008 at the Wayback Machine (archived August 10, 2008)
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