Asenate Manoa

Background

Manoa was born on Kioa island in Fiji. Kioa was purchased by settlers from Tuvalu, who migrated from Tuvalu between 1947 and 1983.

Career

Asenate "Nancy" Manoa competed for Tuvalu as its first female Olympian, competing in the Beijing Olympics as part of the women"s 100 meters races. Manoa was 16 years old when she first competed in Beijing. After initially training on the runway of Funafuti International Airport, Manoa trained in Suva, Fiji in preparation for the games.

She had never used starting blocks or run on a synthetic track before arriving in Beijing.

Slight of figure, she weighs 101 lbs (46 kg). She competed in the 100m sprint.

Her time of 14.05 was the slowest in her heat, but was a Tuvaluan national record. The Guardian described her as "impossibly tiny for an international sprinter", and noted that, in the Beijing National Stadium, she was "running in front of an audience 10 times the size of her country"s population".

She competed in the 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships, with a time of 13.75 secs in the preliminary heat.

She competed in the 100 metres at the 2011 World Championships, with a time of 13.92 secs in the preliminary heat. She trained in Brisbane, Australian, in her preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. In the Women"s 100 metres, she took her national record to 13.48.

Manoa has taken up powerlifting.

She had success at the in her category: 72 kg Female - TOTAL 340 kg - bronze medal.

Achievements

• Manoa represented Tuvalu in the sport of powerlifting at the and won a bronze medal in the 72 kg Female category.

Membership

She was mentored by members of Fiji’s track team, and worked at the offices of the regional Olympic administrator, ONOC.