Asenate Manoa (born 23 May 1992) is a

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Van ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who represented Tuvalu at the 2008 Summer Olympics, at the 2009 World Championships & 2011 World Championships and at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Manoa represented Tuvalu in the sport of powerlifting at the Pacific Games 2015 and won a bronze medal in the 72 kg Female category. She was the first woman to represent Tuvalu at the Olympics. Manoa was born on

Kioa Kioa is an island in Fiji, an outlier to Vanua Levu, one of Fiji's two main islands. Situated opposite Buca Bay, Kioa was purchased by settlers from Vaitupu atoll in Tuvalu, who came between 1947 and 1962. Despite its relatively large size, Vait ...

island in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Beijing Olympics, 2008

Asenate "Nancy" Manoa competed for Tuvalu as its first female Olympian, competing in the Beijing Olympics as part of the women's 100 meters races. Manoa was 16 years old when she first competed in Beijing. After initially training on the runway of Funafuti International Airport,"Games for all as Britain shines"
, ''The Guardian'', 24 August 2008 Manoa trained in

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

in preparation for the games. She was mentored by members of Fiji's track team, and worked at the offices of the regional Olympic administrator, ONOC. She had never used starting blocks or run on a synthetic track before arriving in Beijing."Tuvalu sprinter prepares for Olympic heats"
, ABC Radio Australia, 9 August 2008 Slight of figure, she weighs 101 lbs (46 kg). She competed in the 100m sprint. Her time of 14.05 secs. was the slowest in her heat, but was a Tuvaluan national record. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described her as "impossibly tiny for an international sprinter", and noted that, in the Beijing National Stadium, she was "running in front of an audience 10 times the size of her country's population".

2009 World Championships in Athletics

She competed in the 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships, with a time of 13.75 secs. in the preliminary heat.

2011 World Championships in Athletics

She competed in the 100 metres at the 2011 World Championships, with a time of 13.92 secs. in the preliminary heat.

London Olympics, 2012

She trained in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australian, in her preparation for the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In the Women's 100 metres, she took her national record to 13.48 secs.

Pacific Games 2015

Manoa took up powerlifting. She had success at the Pacific Games 2015 in her category: 72 kg Female - TOTAL 340 kg - bronze medal.

2017 Pacific Mini Games

Manoa participated in the women’s long jump event at the 2017 Pacific Mini Games; finishing 11th in the event with a jump of 4.60 m.

References

External links

*
Biography
on the official website of the Beijing Olympics * , Tuvalu News, 16 August 2008
YouTube video of Asenate Manoa in 100m
The Brisbane Track Classic held at the Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre on Saturday 14 January 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Manoa, Asenate Tuvaluan female sprinters 1992 births Living people Tuvaluan sportswomen Olympic athletes for Tuvalu Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic female sprinters Pacific Games bronze medalists for Tuvalu Pacific Games medalists in weightlifting