Beatrice Faumuina

Beatrice Faumuina
Personal information
Full name Beatrice Roini Liua Faumuina
Born (1974-10-23) 23 October 1974
Auckland
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 116 kg (256 lb)
Sport
Country  New Zealand
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Discus
Coached by Les Mills
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  New Zealand
World Championships
1997 Athens Discus
Commonwealth Games
1998 Kuala Lumpur Discus
2002 Manchester Discus
1994 Victoria Discus
IAAF World Cup
2002 MadridDiscus
Oceania Championships
2010 Cairns Discus
Updated on 14 August 2012.

Beatrice Roini Liua Faumuina, ONZM (born 23 October 1974 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand discus thrower.

Career

Faumuina was a gold medallist at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics. She has represented New Zealand in four Summer Olympics. After winning the discus event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester she was featured on a stamp from Samoa. She is currently New Zealand's Trade Commissioner and Consul General, New York.[1]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics she placed 7th in the discus with a throw of 64.45 metres. Early in her career, she was coached by Les Mills, discus gold medallist at the 1966 Commonwealth Games.

On 16 October 2005, Beatrice Faumuina was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

In 2006, she appeared in the New Zealand version of the television series Dancing with the Stars where she was placed second. Since 2006 she has been a presenter on the Television New Zealand Pacific Islands current events programme Tagata Pasifika. She also attended Lynfield College.

In 2007, Beatrice decided to focus on athletics and based herself in Australia for the majority of the year before competing in Osaka, Japan. She returned to good form after a disappointing injury plagued her 2006 season, placing her 4th at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. She threw 62.2 metres at a meet in Christchurch, beating rival Dani Samuels from Australia. This followed a winning throw of 62.08 throw at a meet in Canberra.

She placed 28th in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing with a throw of 57.18m, failing to qualify for the final. Her comments to media following her elimination were widely criticized after it was perceived that she was satisfied with what many viewed as a sub-standard performance.[2][3]

Faumuina finished seventh in the 2009 Reebok Grand Prix in New York, with a throw of 56.73 metres.[4] She was expected to compete in the Prefontaine Classic meet in Oregon, in order to throw the qualifying standard for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin. However, she did not attend the meeting[5] and her coach stated that she had decided to focus on her upcoming Bachelor of Business Studies exams instead.[6]

Faumuina has retired from discus throwing.[7]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  New Zealand
1992 World Junior Championships Seoul, South Korea 14th (q) Shot put 14.58 m
5th Discus throw 52.20 m
1994 Commonwealth Games Victoria, Canada 9th Shot put 14.80 m
2nd Discus throw 57.12 m
1995 World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 28th (q) Discus throw 54.32 m
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 23rd (q) Discus throw 58.40 m
1997 World Championships Athens, Greece 1st Discus throw 66.82 m
1998 Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4th Shot put 16.41 m
1st Discus throw 65.92 m CR
1999 World Championships Seville, Spain 5th Discus throw 64.62 m
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 12th Discus throw 58.69 m
2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, United Kingdom 1st Discus throw 60.83 m
World Cup Madrid, Spain 1st Discus throw 60.83 m
2003 World Championships Paris, France 13th Discus throw 56.86 m
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 6th Discus throw 63.45 m
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 4th Discus throw 62.73 m
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 4th Discus throw 59.12 m
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 25th (q) Discus throw 55.75 m
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 28th (q) Discus throw 57.15 m
2010 Oceania Championships Cairns, Australia 1st Discus throw 58.32 m CR
Commonwealth Games Delhi, India 5th Discus throw 57.79 m

References

  1. ↑ Stanley Gibbons stamp number 1126, issued on 16 July 2003.
  2. ↑ "What has come over Beatrice?". The Sunday Star-Times. 24 August 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  3. ↑ "Faumuina a disgraceful loser". Stuff.co.nz. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Faumuina finishes 7th - Newstalk ZB. 01/06/2009.
  5. ↑ "Faumuina no show at Oregon athletics event". Television New Zealand. 8 June 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  6. ↑ Alderson, Andrew (14 June 2009). "Athletics: Beatrice out of world champs". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  7. ↑ "Queen Beatrice Faumuina's reign is over - Celeb Stories - New Zealand Woman's Weekly". Nzwomansweekly.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Danyon Loader		 Lonsdale Cup of the New Zealand Olympic Committee
1997		 Succeeded by
Rob Waddell
Preceded by
Shane Cortese & Nerida Lister		 Dancing with the Stars (New Zealand) runner up
Season 2 (2006 with Brian Jones)		 Succeeded by
Megan Alatini & Jonny Williams
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