Uaealesi Funaki

Uaealesi Funaki (born 1998) is a Tongan New Zealander weightlifter who has represented New Zealand at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships and Tonga at the Pacific Mini Games.

Funake was born in the Auckland suburb of Ōtāhuhu[1] and grew up in Māngere.[2] He was educated at Southern Cross College.[3] He began weightlifting at age 15 to improve his rugby performance,[2] and later represented New Zealand at the 2015 Junior World Weightlifting Championships in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, winning silver in the under 85kg class.[3] In 2018, he represented New Zealand at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.[2]

At the 2022 Pacific Mini Games in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands he won three gold medals in the 96kg category.[4][5] He also won a gold medal at the Oceania Weightlifting Championships, held concurrently.[6]

References

"Uaealesi Funaki". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
Alan Apted (28 June 2018). "NZ junior weightlifting champs to take on world's best". Stuff. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
"College Sport: Powerful young weightlifter raising the bar". New Zealand Herald. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
"Three more golds for Tonga at Pacific Mini Games 2022". Matangi Tonga. 23 June 2022. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
"Fiji sprinter Banuve Tabakaucoro secures Mini Games gold as Tonga bags shot put win". PMN. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
Mark Rabago (1 July 2022). "Weightlifter, netters inspire calamity-stricken Tonga". Saipan Tribune. Retrieved 28 July 2022.

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