Ele Opeloge

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1985|7|11}}

| birth_place = Apia, Samoa

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| weight ={{convert|124|kg|lb|abbr=on}}

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| sport = Weightlifting

| event = Women's +75 kg

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Ele Opeloge (born July 11, 1985) 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.

Family

Opeloge comes from a weightlifting family.{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/programmes/champions-of-the-pacific/audio/2018817082/meet-the-opeloges-samoa-s-first-family-of-weightlifting |title=Meet the Opeloges: Samoa's first family of weightlifting |publisher=RNZ |date=20 October 2021 |access-date=27 October 2021}} 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.{{Cite web|title = Glasgow 2014 - Ele Opeloge Profile|url = http://g2014results.thecgf.com/athlete/weightlifting/1022420/ele_opeloge.html|website = g2014results.thecgf.com|accessdate = 2015-11-27}} Her twin sister is Larissa Tara. She is the mother of weightlifter Avatu Opeloge.{{cite web |url=https://samoaglobalnews.com/samoas-teenage-lifters-shine-at-pacific-mini-games-2022/ |title=Samoa's Teenage Lifters Shine at Pacific Mini Games 2022 |publisher=Samoa Global News |date=23 June 2022 |access-date=17 July 2022}}

Career

=2007=

At the 2007 World Championships she ranked 11th, with a combined lift of 250 kg.{{cite web|title=OPELOGE Ele |publisher=International Weightlifting Federation |url=http://www.iwf.net/results/results_athlete_e.php?compid=1835 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527164016/http://www.iwf.net/results/results_athlete_e.php?compid=1835 |archivedate=2011-05-27 }}

=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.

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.[https://www.theguardian.com/sport/feedarticle/7730085 "Tears instead of dreams for Samoan"], Reuters, August 16, 2008 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,http://www.iwf.net/results/results-by-events/?event=21 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802023905/http://www.iwf.net/results/results-by-events/?event=21 |date=2012-08-02 }} IWF Results by Events. XXIX OLYMPIC GAMES elevating Opeloge to become the silver medalist and also the first-ever Olympic medalist from Samoa.{{Cite web|title = Samoan weightlifter Ele Opeloge could be about to win her country's first ever Olympic medal | date = 25 August 2016 | url = http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/83572649/samoan-weightlifter-ele-opeloge-could-be-about-to-win-her-countrys-first-ever-olympic-medal | accessdate = 2016-08-27}}

Opeloge is a celebrity in Samoa, "where children approach her in the supermarket for autographs".

=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.{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/Ele-Opeloge-gives-Samoa-second-gold-medal/article15775843.ece|title=Ele Opeloge gives Samoa second gold medal|work=The Hindu|last=Sabanayakan|first=S.|date=11 October 2010|access-date=1 August 2024}}{{cite news|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/103956/opeloge-siblings-have-field-day.html|title=Opeloge siblings have a field day|work=Deccan Herald|access-date=10 October 2010}} {{Dead link|date=July 2024}} It was also Samoa's second gold medal in the history of the Games.

=2012=

Opeloge took 5th place in the London Olympics.{{Cite web|title = Ele Opeloge Bio, Stats, and Results|url = https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/op/ele-opeloge-1.html|website = Olympics at Sports-Reference.com|accessdate = 2015-11-27|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20151002191518/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/op/ele-opeloge-1.html|archivedate = 2015-10-02}} Her build up to the Olympics were disrupted by chicken pox and typhoid.

= 2014 =

Opeloge was the Samoan flagbearer for the 2014 Commonwealth Games,{{cite web |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-24/pacific-athletes-hit-glasgow-opening/5620514 |title=Pacific athletes 'honoured' to carry national flags at Commonwealth Games opening ceremony |publisher=ABC |date=24 July 2014 |access-date=26 September 2021}} as well as being one of the baton carriers as the Queen's baton made its way through Samoa. At the Games she won the silver medal in the +75 kg category.

References

External links

{{sports links}}
{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080810130039/http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/BIO/Athlete/4/8002444.shtml |date=August 10, 2008 |title=Athlete Biography at beijing2008 }}

{{Footer Commonwealth Games Champions Weightlifting Women Super Heavyweight}}

Category:Living people

Category:1985 births

Category:Samoan female weightlifters

Category:Weightlifters at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Category:Weightlifters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games

Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Samoa

Category:Olympic weightlifters for Samoa

Category:Weightlifters at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Category:Weightlifters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Samoa

Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics