Beatrice Faumuina

Beatrice Faumuina
ONZM
Faumuina in 2013
Personal information
Full nameBeatrice Roini Liua Faumuina
Born (1974-10-23) 23 October 1974
Auckland, New Zealand
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight116 kg (256 lb)
Sport
CountryNew Zealand
SportAthletics
EventDiscus
Coached byLes Mills
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  New Zealand
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1997 Athens Discus
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1998 Kuala Lumpur Discus
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester Discus
Silver medal – second place 1994 Victoria Discus
IAAF World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2002 Madrid Discus
Oceania Championships
Gold medal – first place 2010 Cairns Discus
Updated on 14 August 2012

Beatrice Roini Liua Faumuina ONZM (born 23 October 1974 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand discus thrower.

Career

Faumuina was a gold medallist at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics. She has represented New Zealand in four Summer Olympics. After winning the discus event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester she was featured on a stamp from Samoa. She is currently New Zealand's Trade Commissioner and Consul General, New York.[1]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics she placed 7th in the discus with a throw of 64.45 metres. Early in her career, she was coached by Les Mills, discus gold medallist at the 1966 Commonwealth Games.

In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, Faumuina was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to athletics.[2] On 16 October 2005, she was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

In 2006, she appeared in the New Zealand version of the television series Dancing with the Stars where she was placed second.[3] Since 2006 she has been a presenter on the Television New Zealand Pacific Islands current events programme Tagata Pasifika. She also attended Lynfield College.[4]

In 2007, Beatrice decided to focus on athletics and based herself in Australia for the majority of the year before competing in Osaka, Japan. She returned to good form after a disappointing injury plagued her 2006 season, placing her 4th at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. She threw 62.2 metres at a meet in Christchurch, beating rival Dani Samuels from Australia. This followed a winning throw of 62.08 throw at a meet in Canberra.

She placed 28th in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing with a throw of 57.18m, failing to qualify for the final. Her comments to media following her elimination were widely criticised after it was perceived that she was satisfied with what many viewed as a sub-standard performance.[5][6]

Faumuina finished seventh in the 2009 Reebok Grand Prix in New York, with a throw of 56.73 metres.[7] She was expected to compete in the Prefontaine Classic meet in Oregon, in order to throw the qualifying standard for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin. However, she did not attend the meeting[8] and her coach stated that she had decided to focus on her upcoming Bachelor of Business Studies exams instead.[9]

Faumuina has retired from discus throwing.[10]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  New Zealand
1992 World Junior Championships Seoul, South Korea 14th (q) Shot put 14.58 m
5th Discus throw 52.20 m
1994 Commonwealth Games Victoria, Canada 9th Shot put 14.80 m
2nd Discus throw 57.12 m
1995 World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 28th (q) Discus throw 54.32 m
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 23rd (q) Discus throw 58.40 m
1997 World Championships Athens, Greece 1st Discus throw 66.82 m
1998 Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4th Shot put 16.41 m
1st Discus throw 65.92 m CR
1999 World Championships Seville, Spain 5th Discus throw 64.62 m
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 12th Discus throw 58.69 m
2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, United Kingdom 1st Discus throw 60.83 m
World Cup Madrid, Spain 1st Discus throw 60.83 m
2003 World Championships Paris, France 13th Discus throw 56.86 m
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 6th Discus throw 63.45 m
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 4th Discus throw 62.73 m
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 4th Discus throw 59.12 m
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 25th (q) Discus throw 55.75 m
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 28th (q) Discus throw 57.15 m
2010 Oceania Championships Cairns, Australia 1st Discus throw 58.32 m CR
Commonwealth Games Delhi, India 5th Discus throw 57.79 m

References

  1. ^ Stanley Gibbons stamp number 1126, issued on 16 July 2003.
  2. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2005". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 6 June 2005. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  3. ^ Rowe, David (18 September 2014). "Twelve Questions: Beatrice Faumuina". NZ Herold. NZME. Publishing Limited. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Beatrice Faumuina". NZ Team. New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  5. ^ "What has come over Beatrice?". The Sunday Star-Times. 24 August 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Faumuina a disgraceful loser". Stuff.co.nz. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  7. ^ Faumuina finishes 7th - Newstalk ZB. 01/06/2009.
  8. ^ "Faumuina no show at Oregon athletics event". Television New Zealand. 8 June 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  9. ^ Alderson, Andrew (14 June 2009). "Athletics: Beatrice out of world champs". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  10. ^ "Queen Beatrice Faumuina's reign is over - Celeb Stories - New Zealand Woman's Weekly". Nzwomansweekly.co.nz. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
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