Proud Tongan Olympians home on August 28 [1]
Thursday, August 21, 2008 - 16:58. Updated on Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 18:44.
The three athletes who are representing Tonga in the 2008 Beijing Olympics have completed their competitions this week and will return to Tonga on August 28.
'Ana Po'uhila, a shot put thrower, 'Aisea Tohi, an athlete and Maamaloa Lolohea, a weight lifter did not win any medals but according to 'Ana, the flag bearer at the opening ceremony, they were very proud to be representing Tonga.
'Aisea the first of the three to compete on August 15 in Round one of the Men's 100m finished with 11.17s. He came seventh out of the eight runners in heat 2 of the competition and did not qualify to continue.
'Ana, the only Tongan athlete to have qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics entered a Preliminary round in Group Two of the Women's Shot put competition on August 16.
She finished with a throw of 16.42m, which was short of her personal best of 18.03m. 'Ana finished 27th of the 35 women throwers.
Maama Lolohea, the last of the three athletes competed on August 19, in the Men's weightlifting +105kg. He failed in an attempt to lift 185kg in the Clean and Jerk category of the Men's +105kg in Group B of the weightlifting competition, and didn't qualify to continue.
The Beijing Olympics, which began on August 8, closes on August 24.