Seiuli Paul Wallwork '' OM'' (15 January 1942 – 14 March 2024) was a Samoan weightlifter, civil servant, and sports administrator. He was the first Samoan to win a medal at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, winning a Silver in weightlifting at the

1974 British Commonwealth Games The 1974 British Commonwealth Games () were held in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The event was officially named "the friendly games". T ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In 1999 he was one of six members of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

implicated in the

2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal The 2002 Olympic Winter Games bid scandal was a scandal involving allegations of bribery used to win the rights to host the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Prior to its successful bid in 1995, the city had attempted f ...

Biography

Seiuli Paul Wallwork was born on 15 January 1942 and was educated at Avele College. He broke his neck while playing rugby in New Zealand as a youth, and began weightlifting to strengthen his leg and arm muscles after the injury left him with paralysis. He represented Samoa in the

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, and

1971 South Pacific Games The 4th South Pacific Games (; ), also known as Papeete 1971 (), held in Papeete, Tahiti from 25 August to 5 September 1971, was the fourth edition of the South Pacific Games. Approximately 1,500 male athletes and 500 female athletes participate ...

, winning a gold medal in each. In 1968 he moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to study at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. In 1969 he won the Australian weightlifting championship, and in 1972 the Australasian. He was offered a place on the Australian team for the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

but declined as he did not want to renounce his Samoan citizenship. He subsequently represented Samoa in the 1974 Commonwealth Games, winning silver. Wallwork later worked as permanent secretary for the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Cultural Affairs and headed the organising committee for the

1983 South Pacific Games The 7th South Pacific Games (), also known as Apia 1983, held on 5–16 September 1983 in Apia, Western Samoa, was the seventh edition of the South Pacific Games. Participating countries Fifteen nations competed at the 1983 South Pacific Games: ...

. In 1987 Wallwork was appointed to the

. In 1991 he was elected president of the South Pacific Games Council. In 1999 he was expelled from the IOC during the

as his wife had received a $30,000 loan from a Salt Lake City official and his family had received more than $67,000 in travel benefits from Salt Lake City. He subsequently resigned from Samoa's National Olympic Committee. Wallwork later served as president of the

Oceania Weightlifting Federation Oceania ( , ) is a geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its continenta ...

and president of

Rugby League Samoa Rugby League Samoa are the governing body for rugby league in Samoa. They are based in the capital Apia, the League has suffered financially due to member leagues not paying affiliation fees. History They were founded in 1949 and have been member ...

. Wallwork was appointed to the

Order of Merit of Samoa The Samoan Order of Merit is an order recognizing distinguished service in science, art, literature, or religion. Per the Honours and Awards Act 1999, admission into the organization is granted by the O le Ao o le Malo, presently Vaaletoa Sualauvi ...

in the

2014 Samoa Honours and Awards The 2014 Samoa Honours and Awards were appointments made by the ''O le Ao o le Malo'' of 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 S ...

. Wallwork died after a prolonged illness on 14 March 2024, at the age of 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallwork, Paul 1942 births 2024 deaths Samoan male weightlifters Samoan civil servants Members of the Order of Merit of Samoa International Olympic Committee members Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Samoa Weightlifters at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists in weightlifting