Samoa’s Olympic medal official

By Deidre Fanene 24 December 2016, 12:00AM

It’s official. Finally.

Ele Opeloge has claimed Samoa’s first Olympic medal, rewriting sports history in the Pacific.

This was confirmed by the President of the Samoa Weightlifting Federation and Ele’s coach, Tuaopepe Jerry Wallwork, in an email to the Weekend Observer last night.

“It’s official Ele Opeloge Wins Silver Medal at the Beijing Olympic Games 2008,” Tuaopepe wrote. 

“It has been posted on the IWF website official results for Beijing 2008 Games as a result of all the re-tests.

“We now await the medal. The Samoa Weightlifting Federation together with the Oceania Weightlifting Federation and O.N.O.C are pushing for the medal to be sent at the earliest.

“This is history for Samoa and the weightlifting family. I sincerely hope that it will be given the recognition it deserves.”

Opeloge had initially finished fourth in Beijing.

But with the silver medalist retrospectively disqualified for doping, Ele has risen to second place after Kazakhstan's third-place finisher Mariya Grabovetskaya was also disqualified.

By Deidre Fanene 24 December 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>