Tonga sent a delegation to compete at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia from 15 September to 1 October 2000. Sydney was Tonga's fifth consecutive appearance at a

Summer Olympic Games 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 ...

. The Tongan delegation to Sydney consisted of two track and field athletes; Toluta'u Koula and

Ana Siulolo Liku Ana Siulolo Liku (born 9 January 1974) is a Tongan hurdler. She competed in the women's 100 metres hurdles at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Honours ;National honours * Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III The ''Most Illustrious'' Order of Queen S� ...

; and weightlifter

Tevita Kofe Ngalu Tevita Kofe Ngalu (born 30 April 1973) is a Tongan weightlifter who competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Ngalu's was 27 years old when he competed in his first major international event which was the 2000 Summer Olympics which was held in Sydn ...

. Neither of the track athletes advanced beyond the first round of their events, while Ngalu came 13th in the men's 105 kg category.

Background

The Tonga Sports Association and National Olympic Committee was recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 1 January 1984. The Kingdom of Tonga made its Olympic debut at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, and has appeared at every

since then, making these Sydney Games their fifth appearance. They did not make their debut in the Winter Olympic Games until the

2014 Sochi Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. The 2000 Summer Olympics were held from 15 September to 1 October 2000; a total of 10,651 athletes represented 199 National Olympic Committees. The Tongan delegation consisted of two track and field athletes; Toluta'u Koula and

; and weightlifter

. Liku was chosen as the flag-bearer for the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

Athletics

Toluta'u Koula was 30 years old at the time of the Sydney Olympics. He was making his third consecutive and final Olympic appearance, having previously represented Tonga at the 1992 and

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. On 22 September, he was drawn into heat four of the first round of the men's 100 meters; he finished the race in 11.01 seconds, ninth and last in his heat, and was eliminated. The gold medal was eventually won in 9.87 seconds by Maurice Greene of the United States; the silver was won by

Ato Boldon Ato Jabari Boldon (born 30 December 1973) is a Trinidadian former track and field athlete, politician, and four-time Olympic medal winner. He holds the Trinidad and Tobago national record in the 50, 60 and 200 metres events with times of 5.64, ...

of Trinidad and Tobago; and the bronze was earned by

Obadele Thompson Obadele "Oba" Thompson BSS (born 30 March 1976) is a Barbados-born former sprinter, lawyer, author, and speaker. He won Barbados's first and only Olympic medal as an independent country by placing third in the 100 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olymp ...

of Barbados. Ana Siulolo Liku was 26 years old at the time of these Olympics, and had also previously represented Tonga at the

1996 Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. On 25 September, she was drawn into heat three of the women's 100 meter hurdles, where she finished the race in a time of 14.58 seconds. This put her eighth and last in her heat, and she was eliminated. The gold medal was won by

Olga Shishigina Olga Vasilyevna Shishigina (russian: link=no, Ольга Васильевна Шишигина; born 23 December 1968 in Almaty) is a retired Kazakhstani track and field athlete who mainly competed in the 100 metres hurdles. Honoured Master of S ...

of Kazakhstan in a time of 12.65 seconds, the silver by Nigeria's

Glory Alozie Gloria “Glory” Alozie Oluchi (born 30 December 1977 in Amator, Abia State) is a Nigerian-born Spanish track and field athlete competing mostly in hurdling. The world junior second placer from 1996, she went on to have a successful senior c ...

, and the bronze was won by Melissa Morrison of the United States.

Weightlifting

Tevita Kofe Ngalu was 27 years old at the time of the Sydney Olympics and was making his only Olympic appearance. On 25 September, he took part in the men's 105 kg competition, where participants could weigh no more than 105 kg. The competition was held in two phases, the

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without res ...

, and the snatch with the sum of both lifts determining an athlete's final score; both lifts had to be completed for an athlete to rank for the event and each weightlifter got three attempts in each discipline. In his three attempts at the snatch, Ngalu lifted 122.5 kg and 127.5 kg, before failing on his third attempt at 130 kg, making his mark for the snatch 127.5 kg. This ranked him 17th and last among those setting a mark, however four weightlifters failed to set any mark in the snatch and were not allowed to advance to the clean and jerk. The clean and jerk portion of the competition was held the same day. In his three attempts, Ngalu lifted 162.5 kg in his first attempt, failed at 167.5 kg in his second attempt, and lifted 167.5 kg in his third and final attempt, making his mark for this portion of the competition 165.5 kg. This placed him 13th and last, although four lifters failed to set a mark in the clean and jerk and went unranked in the competition. Ngalu's final mark was 295 kg for the competition, which placed him in 13th and last among those who completed the event. The gold medal was won by Hossein Tavakkoli of Iran, who set marks of 190 kg in the snatch and 235 kg in the clean and jerk, for a total mark of 425 kg, setting a new Olympic record.

References

{{country at games navbox, Tonga, Olympics Nations at the 2000 Summer Olympics

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 ...

Olymp

Background

Athletics

Weightlifting

See also

References