Ele Opeloge (born July 11, 1985) is a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

. 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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

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. Her twin sister is Larissa Tara. She is the mother of weightlifter Avatu Opeloge.

Career

2007

At the 2007 World Championships she ranked 11th, with a combined lift of 250 kg.

2008

She represented Samoa at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, competing in the over 75kg category. She was also her country's flagbearer during the Games'

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

. 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 Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

lifted 270 kg to finish third."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 Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, 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 IWF Results by Events. XXIX OLYMPIC GAMES elevating Opeloge to become the silver medalist and also the first-ever Olympic medalist from Samoa. 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 The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in the +75 kg class with a Games record combined lift of 285 kg. It was also Samoa's second gold medal in the history of the Games.

2012

Opeloge took 5th place in the London Olympics. Her build up to the Olympics were disrupted by chicken pox and typhoid.

2014

Opeloge was the Samoan flagbearer for the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

, 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

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Opeloge, Ele Living people 1985 births Samoan female weightlifters Weightlifters at the 2008 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Samoa Olympic weightlifters for Samoa Weightlifters at the 2012 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Samoa Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in weightlifting Olympic silver medalists for Samoa Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Pacific Games gold medalists for Samoa Pacific Games medalists in weightlifting Commonwealth Games gold medallists in weightlifting Commonwealth Games silver medallists in weightlifting