Isireli Naikelekelevesi

Isireli Naikelekelevesi (born 17 December 1976) is a Fijian former middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. He is the Fijian national record holder in that event.[1]

Born in Suva,[2] he represented his country at the Summer Olympics in 1996, 2000 and 2004. In 1996 he anchored a 4 × 400 metres relay team including Soloveni Nakaunicina, Henry Semiti and Solomone Bole, while in the latter two years he ran in the heats of the 800 m.[2] He competed in the 800 m heats at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and also appeared at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002 (reaching the semi-finals on his second attempt).[3] He ran for Fiji at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in both 1996 and 1998.[4]

His greatest successes came at regional level. He began with a 5000 metres bronze at the 1994 Oceania Junior Athletics Championships.[5] He won three back-to-back middle-distance doubles at the South Pacific Games (1995, 1999, 2003) and also claimed a 400 metres bronze and relay silver in 2003.[6] He remains the Games record holder in the 800 m. At the South Pacific Mini Games, he won a middle-distance double and took steeplechase bronze. The following edition in 2001 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, but retained his 800 m and relay titles.[7]

At the Oceania Athletics Championships he was a mainstay of distance running for a decade. He won his first 5000 metres title at the 1996 Oceania Athletics Championships and also won silver in the 10,000 metres. He won the 800 m title in 2000, but was beaten into second by New Zealander Gareth Hyett in 2002. He was again 800 m runner-up in 2006 finishing behind Samoa's Aunese Curreen.[8]

In his last major international events he took two middle-distance silver medals behind Curreen at the 2007 Pacific Games and 2008 Oceania Athletics Championships.[9]

Personal bests

All information from All Athletics and IAAF[10][4]

International competitions
Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships Stellenbosch, South Africa 257th Senior race 44:18
Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 6th (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:10.67
Oceania Athletics Championships Townsville, Australia 1st 5000 m 15:54.65
2nd 10,000 m 35:27.94
1998 Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 5th (h) 800 m 1:50.66
1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships Belfast, United Kingdom 153rd Senior race 51:11
127th Short race 15:15
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 7th (h) 800 m 1:49.61
Oceania Championships Adelaide, Australia 1st 800 m 1:51.49
2001 World Championships Edmonton, Canada 6th 800 m 1:50.74
2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, United Kingdom 8th (sf) 800 m 1:50.00
Oceania Championships Christchurch, New Zealand 2nd 800 m 1:54.11
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 7th (h) 800 m 1:49.08
2006 Oceania Championships Apia, Samoa 2nd 800 m 1:55.30
2008 Oceania Championships Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands 2nd 800 m 1:53.48
2nd 1500 m 4:03.79

References
  1. Top 10 All Time. Athletics Fiji. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
  2. Isireli Naikelekelevesi. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
  3. Isire Naikelekelevesi. Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
  4. Isireli Naikelekelevesi. IAAF. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
  5. Oceania Junior Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
  6. South Pacific Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
  7. South Pacific Mini Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
  8. Oceania Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
  9. 2008 Oceania Athletics Championships Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine. Athletics Oceania. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
  10. Isireli Naikelekelevesi. All Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
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