Iliesa Delana
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | 2 December 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Fiji | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||
Event | High Jump - F42 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||
Paralympic finals | 2012 Summer Paralympics: High Jump (F42) – Gold | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Iliesa Delana
Early life
Delana was born in Naisausau, Namara, Tailevu, Fiji. He lost his left leg in a bus accident at age three. He debuted at the FESPIC Games in 2006,[1] and has since won silver medal at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships, held in New Zealand,[2] and then a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
2012 Paralympics
Delana competed in the F42 category (for single leg amputees without prosthesis) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Going into the games, Delana was ranked number 2 in the world,[2][3] but jumped 1.74m to win the gold on count back, after clearing all heights up to and including 1.74m on his first attempts. His jump of 1.74m broke the Oceanic record for the event.[4]
In doing this, Delana became the first Fijian to win any medal at the Paralympics (or Olympics), and the first athlete from the South Pacific Islands to win gold (following Francis Kompaon's silver medal for Papua New Guinea in sprinting in 2008).[5][6]
Delana was congratulated by
He is depicted on the obverse of the Fijian 2013 circulating commemorative 50 Cents coin.
Political career
Delana stood in the 2014 general elections for the FijiFirst party, and was elected to Parliament with 906 votes.[11] He was subsequently appointed to cabinet as Assistant Minister for Youth and Sports.[12]
References
- ^ "IPC bio". Archived from the original on 2014-01-06. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
- ^ a b "Athlete profiles" Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, Fiji Times, 31 January 2012
- ^ "Five confirmed for 2012 London Olympics" Archived 2015-06-10 at the Wayback Machine, Fijilive, 30 January 2012
- ^ Men's High Jump - F42 Archived 2012-09-04 at the Wayback Machine, London 2012 official website, 3 September 2012
- ^ a b "Delana jumps into history" Archived 2012-09-07 at the Wayback Machine, Fiji Times, 4 September 2012
- ^ "Sport: Fiji’s Iliesa Delana wins Pacific’s first ever Paralympic gold medal", Radio New Zealand International, 3 September 2012
- ^ "Enormous victory" Archived 2012-09-07 at the Wayback Machine, Fiji Times, 5 September 2012
- ^ "Fiji salutes Golden hero, Iliesa Delana", PacNews, 13 September 2012
- ^ "Government provides free home for Delena", Fiji government website, 13 September 2012
- ^ "Fiji gives golden boy a new home", Fiji Times, 31 January 2013
- ^ "2014 Election Results". Fiji Elections Office. Archived from the original on 2014-09-21. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
- ^ "20-member Cabinet announced". FBC. 2014-09-24. Archived from the original on 2019-04-06. Retrieved 2014-09-24.
External links
- Iliesa Delana at the International Paralympic Committee
- Iliesa Delana at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived)