Fiji’s 2016 Sportswoman of the Year Apolonia Vaivai will return to Weightlifting Fiji competitions this month after a public boycott in 2018.
Weightlifting Fiji says Vaivai’s return has been made possible by her withdrawal from the boycott under the process for boycotting athletes wanting to return to Weightlifting Fiji.
Vaivai won three gold medals in three consecutive Commonwealth Championships from 2016-2018.
She is the only Fiji athlete to ever do so.
Vaivai also won bronze medals at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games.
She qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on merit.
Vaivai also represented Fiji at the 2017 World Championships and has several Pacific Games and Oceania Championships gold medals to her name.
She was Fiji’s number one weightlifter for over 5 years and was ranked in the top 5 lifters in the world in the 69Kg category.
In 2017, Vaivai broke the 17-year old Oceania record for the snatch in the 69Kg.
In a statement, Weightlifting Fiji says as part of her return, Vaivai has sincerely apologised in writing and in-person to the current and past Weightlifting Fiji executives for her actions in bringing disrepute to Weightlifting Fiji’s name.
In her formal submission to Weightlifting Fiji, Vaivai stated that “for the past 3 years, I have been misled by my coach(es) and some officials about the issues between Weightlifting Fiji and the Levuka group. In my naivety, I boycotted Weightlifting Fiji thinking I was doing the right thing but I now realise I was misled and I regret my decision to leave my career behind.
“I made a mistake in giving up my IOC Scholarship and removing myself from the sport that has given me so much. I now know that there was no truth in what was told to me about Weightlifting Fiji. I carry a lot of regrets and I take full responsibility for my actions knowing that I have caused much pain and grief to everyone involved. I have signed my apology letter and the relevant forms on my own free will”.
“I respect Weightlifting Fiji and all its measures put in place to prevent any recurrence of incidents that caused damage to Weightlifting Fiji and the sport of Weightlifting. “I fully regret being part of the actions that derailed this and I am very sorry. I also thank the Executives for allowing me to come back to WF".
Weightlifting Fiji President, Della Shaw-Elder says this is a bold step by Vaivai.
She says Vaivai was one of the faces of the Levuka boycott group and her desire to come back to Weightlifting Fiji on her own accord speaks volumes of what had happened.
Vaivai will re-join Weightlifting Fiji under the Suva Weightlifting Club and train under Della Shaw-Elder and Henry Elder, who helped Vaivai make a massive 24kg improvement within a short six-months in 2017.
She has been now reactivated in the global World Anti-Doping database and is expected to be part of the Fiji Team for the current Oceania online league competition.
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