Tonga’s first female Olympic weightlifter places eighth in +87kg [1]
Tuesday, August 3, 2021 - 17:53. Updated on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 - 17:56.
Kuinini Manumu’a, Tonga’s first female Olympic weightlifter finished in eighth place last night in the +87kg category event at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 20-year-old scored a snatch of 103 and clean & jerk of 125 with a total score of 228.
The gold medalist of the event was China’s WenWen Li, who set an Olympic record, with a snatch of 140, and clean & jerk score of 180. WenWen Li is also a World Record and Junior World Record holder.
Great Britain’s Emily Campbell won silver with a snatch of 122 and clean & jerk of 161, while bronze went to USA’s Sarah Robles who scored a snatch of 128 and clean & jerk of 154.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard, the first transgender woman to take part in the Olympics, was not able to finish any lifts and did not complete the event.
Kuinini was born in American Samoa but grew up in Vava’u for the first 10 years of her life. She moved to San Francisco, at the age of 10 and started lifting weights when she was 13-years-old.
She studies business at San Francisco State University.
Kuinini was the last member of Tonga's Olympic team to compete in Tokyo 2020.