Isireli Naikelekelevesi (born 17 December 1976) is a

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 ...

an former middle-distance runner who specialised in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

. He is the Fijian national record holder in that event. Born 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 ...

, he represented his country at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

in 1996, 2000 and 2004. In 1996 he anchored a

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

team including Soloveni Nakaunicina, Henry Semiti and

Solomone Bole Solomone Bole (born 23 June 1974) is a Fijian former sprinter. He competed in the men's 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 an ...

, while in the latter two years he ran in the heats of the 800 m.Isireli Naikelekelevesi
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2017-01-21. He competed in the 800 m heats at the

2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event ...

and also appeared at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in 1998 and 2002 (reaching the semi-finals on his second attempt). He ran for Fiji at the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

in both 1996 and 1998.Isireli Naikelekelevesi
IAAF. Retrieved on 2017-01-21. His greatest successes came at regional level. He began with a

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

bronze at the 1994 Oceania Junior Athletics Championships. He won three back-to-back middle-distance doubles at the South Pacific Games (

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

) and also claimed a

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

bronze and relay silver in 2003. He remains the Games record holder in the 800 m. At the

South Pacific Mini Games The Pacific Mini Games is a continental multi-sport event contested by countries and territories located in Oceania. The event has been held every four years since the inaugural games in Honiara, Solomon Islands in 1981. It was known as the Sout ...

, he won a middle-distance double and took

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

bronze. The following edition in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

brought a sweep from 400 m to 1500 m and a fourth gold in the relay. At the 2005 edition he was edged out in the 1500 m by Samoa's

Setefano Mika Aunese Curreen (born Setefano Mika, 23 December 1981) is a Samoan middle distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. He is currently a member of the North Harbour Bays Athletics Club in Auckland, New Zealand. Curreen represented Samoa at ...

, but retained his 800 m and relay titles. At the

Oceania Athletics Championships The Oceania Athletics Championships is an athletics event organized by the Oceania Athletics Association (OAA) for the World Athletics (WA) (formerly the IAAF) member associations of the Oceania region. First held in 1990 in Suva, it was initia ...

he was a mainstay of distance running for a decade. He won his first

title at the

1996 Oceania Athletics Championships The 1996 Oceania Athletics Championships were held in Townsville, Australia, between November 28–30, 1996. A total of 42 events were contested, 22 by men and 20 by women. Medal summary Medal winners were published. Complete results can be ...

and also won silver in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

. He won the 800 m title in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, but was beaten into second by New Zealander Gareth Hyett in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. He was again 800 m runner-up in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

finishing behind Samoa's

Aunese Curreen Aunese Curreen (born Setefano Mika, 23 December 1981) is a Samoan middle distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. He is currently a member of the North Harbour Bays Athletics Club in Auckland, New Zealand. Curreen represented Samoa at ...

. In his last major international events he took two middle-distance silver medals behind Curreen at the

2007 Pacific Games The 2007 South Pacific Games were held in Apia, Samoa, from 25 August to 8 September 2007. The Games were the thirteenth to be held since the inception of the South Pacific Games in 1963, and included traditional multi-sport event disciplines, su ...

and 2008 Oceania Athletics Championships.

Personal bests

– 48.86 (2001) *

– 1:48.70 min (2004) *

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

– 3:53.22 min (2003) *

Mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

– 4:14.24 min (2004) *

– 16:42.3 min (1994) All information from All Athletics and IAAFIsireli Naikelekelevesi
. All Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.

International competitions

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Naikelekelevesi, Isireli Living people 1976 births People from Suva Fijian male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Fiji Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Fiji Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Fiji