Asenate Manoa (born 23 May 1992) is a

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northeast ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who represented

Tuvalu at the 2008 Summer Olympics Tuvalu competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, from 8 to 24 August 2008. This was the nation's first ever appearance in an Olympic Game. The delegation included two track and field athletes and one weightlifter. Okilani Tinilau ...

, at the 2009 World Championships & 2011 World Championships and at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Manoa represented Tuvalu in the sport of

powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

at the Pacific Games 2015 and won a bronze medal in the 72 kg Female category. She was the first woman to represent Tuvalu at the Olympics. Manoa was born on

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island in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

Beijing Olympics, 2008

Asenate "Nancy" Manoa competed for Tuvalu as its first female Olympian, competing in the Beijing Olympics as part of the women's 100 meters races. Manoa was 16 years old when she first competed in Beijing. After initially training on the runway of

Funafuti International Airport Funafuti International Airport is an airport in Funafuti, in the capital city of the island nation of Tuvalu. It is the sole international airport in Tuvalu. Fiji Airways (trading as Fiji Link) operates between Suva and Funafuti. Air Kiribati pr ...

,"Games for all as Britain shines"
, ''The Guardian'', 24 August 2008 Manoa trained in

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

in preparation for the games. She was mentored by members of Fiji's track team, and worked at the offices of the regional Olympic administrator, ONOC. She had never used starting blocks or run on a synthetic track before arriving in Beijing."Tuvalu sprinter prepares for Olympic heats"
, ABC Radio Australia, 9 August 2008 Slight of figure, she weighs 101 lbs (46 kg). She competed in the 100m sprint. Her time of 14.05 secs. was the slowest in her heat, but was a Tuvaluan national record. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described her as "impossibly tiny for an international sprinter", and noted that, in the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...

, she was "running in front of an audience 10 times the size of her country's population".

2009 World Championships in Athletics

She competed in the 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships, with a time of 13.75 secs. in the preliminary heat.

2011 World Championships in Athletics

She competed in the 100 metres at the 2011 World Championships, with a time of 13.92 secs. in the preliminary heat.

London Olympics, 2012

She trained in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australian, in her preparation for the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In the Women's 100 metres, she took her national record to 13.48 secs.

Pacific Games 2015

Manoa took up

. She had success at the Pacific Games 2015 in her category: 72 kg Female - TOTAL 340 kg - bronze medal.

2017 Pacific Mini Games

Manoa participated in the women’s long jump event at the

2017 Pacific Mini Games The 2017 Pacific Mini Games were held in Port Vila, Vanuatu, in December 2017. It was the tenth edition of the Pacific Mini Games, and the second to be hosted in Vanuatu (after the 1993 games). Host selection Vanuatu was awarded the right to h ...

; finishing 11th in the event with a jump of 4.60 m.

References

External links

*
Biography
on the official website of the Beijing Olympics

Tuvalu News, 16 August 2008
YouTube video of Asenate Manoa in 100m
The Brisbane Track Classic held at the Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre on Saturday 14 January 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Manoa, Asenate Tuvaluan female sprinters 1992 births Living people Tuvaluan women Olympic athletes for Tuvalu Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic female sprinters