Heimata Neuffer (died 13 November 2020) was a

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

n heavyweight

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who represented French Polynesia at the Pacific Games. Neuffer was from Raiatea and worked as a police officer. The son of boxer Pascal Neuffer, he began boxing at an early age. In 2011 he was selected as part of the Tahitian team for the Cadet World Boxing Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. The following year he was sent to Los Angeles to train. At the

2015 Pacific Games The 2015 Pacific Games, also known as Port Moresby 2015 or POM 2015, was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from 4 to 18 July 2015. It was the fifteenth staging of the Pacific Games as well as the third to be hosted in Port Moresby. More tha ...

in Port Moresby he won gold in the heavyweight division. In 2016 he competed in the French Amateur Boxing Championships, losing in the final to Mickael Robert. Following this he was selected to join the ''Pôle France Boxe'' at the

National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance INSEP, the National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance (Institut national du sport, de l'expertise et de la performance), is a French training institute and center for excellence in sports that trains elite athletes. It is located on th ...

in Paris. 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 ...

in Port Vila he had to compete under the banner of the Pacific Games Council due to the disaccreditation of the Polynesian Boxing Federation, but won gold. At the

2019 Pacific Games The 2019 Pacific Games was the sixteenth edition of the Pacific Games. The Games were held in Apia, Samoa, returning there for the first time since 2007. It was the third time overall that the Pacific Games were held in Samoa. The event was init ...

in Apia he won bronze. He was killed in a car accident in Raiatea on 13 November 2020. In June 2021 the driver of the vehicle was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to five years imprisonment.

References

20th-century births category:2020 deaths People from Raiatea French Polynesian police officers French Polynesian boxers French police officers Pacific Games gold medalists for Tahiti Pacific Games bronze medalists for Tahiti Pacific Games medalists in boxing {{FrenchPolynesia-athletics-bio-stub