Don Opeloge

Don Opeloge (born 13 May 1999)[1] is a Samoan weightlifter. He won the gold medal in the men's 96 kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England.[2][3] He won the silver medal in the men's 85 kg event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia.[4]

Don Opeloge
Personal information
Born (1999-05-13) 13 May 1999
Sport
CountrySamoa
SportWeightlifting
Medal record
Men's weightlifting
Representing  Samoa
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place2022 Birmingham96 kg
Silver medal – second place2018 Gold Coast85 kg
Pacific Games
Gold medal – first place2019 Apia89 kg
Commonwealth Championships
Gold medal – first place2019 Apia89 kg
Silver medal – second place2017 Gold Coast85 kg
Oceania Championships
Gold medal – first place2017 Gold Coast85 kg
Gold medal – first place2018 Le Mont-Dore85 kg
Gold medal – first place2019 Apia89 kg
Gold medal – first place202196 kg

Opeloge comes from a weightlifting family.[5] His brother Niusila and his sister Ele both won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in New Delhi.[5]

At the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, he finished in 9th place in the men's 85 kg event.[6] In 2018, he won silver at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Queensland.[5]

In 2019, he won the gold medal in the men's 89 kg event at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships held in Suva, Fiji.[1][4][7] A month later, he represented Samoa at the 2019 Pacific Games and he won the gold medal in the men's 89 kg event.[7] The 2019 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships were also held at the same time and his total result also gave him the gold medal in this event.

In December 2022 he was named by the Samoa Observer as one of its people of the year.[8]

At the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships in September 2023 he set a new commonwealth record and qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[9]

References
  1. "2019 Junior World Weightlifting Championships" (PDF). International Weightlifting Federation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  2. "Samoan Opeloge snatches Games gold with monster lifts". RNZ. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  3. Houston, Michael (2 August 2022). "Opeloge family claim another weightlifting title as Don strikes gold at Birmingham 2022". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  4. "Sport: Samoan weightlifter wins junior world title". Radio New Zealand. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  5. "Meet the Opeloges: Samoa's first family of weightlifting". RNZ. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  6. "Weightlifting Results Book" (PDF). 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  7. Pavitt, Michael (12 July 2019). "World junior champion delights home crowd with triple Samoa 2019 weightlifting gold". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  8. Talaia Mika (31 December 2022). "People of the Year: Reaching for the top in weightlifting". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  9. Talaia Mika (17 September 2023). "Don and Iuniarra qualify for Olympic Games". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
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