Narita Viliamu Tahega (née Narita Janne Freda Tuga Viliamu; born 4 July 1989) is a

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

. From 2003 to 2011, Viliamu Tahega won 38 medals in the 75kg+

weight class Weight classes are divisions of competition used to match competitors against others of their own size. Weight classes are used in a variety of sports, especially combat sports (such as boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and wrestling). Altern ...

across 13 international weightlifting competitions, giving her the recognition of having won the most medals of any Niuean athlete in international competition. Events Viliamu Tahega competed in include 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 ...

Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games were ...

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 Sou ...

, and Oceania & South Pacific weightlifting championship. Her total medal record consists of 14 gold, 23 silver, and 1 bronze medal. After her retirement from competitive weightlifting, Viliamu Tahega also served as an official in the Oceania Talent Identification Programme which, with the support of the

International Weightlifting Federation The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), headquartered in Lausanne, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlifting. The IWF was founded in 1905, and has 192 Member Federations. The IWF President is Mohammed H ...

, trains thousands of young weightlifters and selects top athletes to attend a training camp at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute. In 2018, Viliamu Tahega was elected the president of the Niue Weightlifting Federation and was reappointed to the position in 2020. In June 2022, Viliamu Tahega was nominated by the Niue Weightlifting Federation to the executive board of the Commonwealth Weightlifting Federation. In 2020, Viliamu Tahega was awarded the

Niue Community Service Star The Niue National Awards is a system of orders, decorations and medals to recognise the achievements of, or service by, Niueans. It was established in 2020. Previously Niue had fallen under the New Zealand royal honours system. The awards are decid ...

in recognition of her contributions to Niue athletics.

Personal life

Viliamu Tahega is a police officer. In 2021, Viliamu Tahega was elected to the

Alofi South Alofi is the capital of the Pacific Ocean island nation of Niue. With a population of 597 in 2017, Alofi has the distinction of being the second smallest national capital city in terms of population (after Ngerulmud, capital of Palau). It consi ...

Village Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

. She also served in the

Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), also known as Operation Helpem Fren, Operation Anode and Operation Rata (by New Zealand), was created in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of ...

(RAMSI). Viliamu Tahega's mother, Joan Sisiati Tahafa-Viliamu, served in the

Niue Assembly The Niue Assembly ( niu, Niue Fono Ekepule) is the legislature of Niue. It consists of 20 members; 14 representatives of the villages and 6 elected on a common roll. Members are directly elected by universal suffrage, and serve a three-year t ...

as a common roll member from 2011–2014. Viliamu Tahega has 3 siblings: Afi, Clayton, and Tsel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viliamu Tahega, Narita 1989 births Recipients of the Niue Community Service Star Members of the Niue Assembly Niuean female weightlifters Weightlifters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Living people Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting Police officers