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Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about 750 km2 (290 sq mi), scattered over 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately 800 km (500 mi) north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest, Samoa to the northeast, New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west, Niue to the east, and Kermadec to the southwest. Tonga is about 1,800 km (1,100 mi) from New Zealand's North Island. Tonga is a member of The Commonwealth.
Lennox Claudius Lewis is a boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hold the undisputed championship. Holding dual British and Canadian citizenship, Lewis represented Canada as an amateur at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics; in the latter, he won a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division.
Vai Sikahema is a Tongan broadcaster and former professional American football player. He played as a running back and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). He has served as a general authority seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since April 2021.
Daniel Allen Hodge was an American amateur and professional wrestler, who also had a brief professional boxing career. He is in both the U.S. amateur wrestling Hall of Fame, for his three NCAA titles and Olympic silver medal, and the pro wrestling Hall of Fame, as a seven-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion. The Dan Hodge Trophy is the college wrestling equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
Solomon Haumono is a former professional boxer and former rugby league footballer of Tongan descent.
Paea Wolfgramm is a Tongan retired boxer. Nicknamed "The Tongan Warrior", Wolfgramm earned the Super Heavyweight silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, making him the first and only athlete from Tonga to win an Olympic medal.
Tonga has competed in eight editions of the Olympic Summer Games and two of the Olympic Winter Games. It became the smallest independent nation to win an Olympic medal in the Summer games when Super Heavyweight Boxer Paea Wolfgramm earned silver in the 1996 Super heavyweight 91 kg championships in Atlanta.
Tonga competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, that celebrated in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. Tonga was represented by the Tonga Sports Association and National Olympic Committee, and was one of 117 nations that won no medals at the Games. Tonga was represented by three athletes competing in two sports–Aisea Tohi and Ana Po'uhila in track and field events, and Maamaloa Lolohea in weightlifting. The delegation's appearance at the Olympics marked its seventh consecutive appearance at the Olympics since its debut at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The flag bearer for Tonga in Beijing was field athlete Ana Po'uhila.
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Tonga competed in the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games held in the British Crown Dependency of Isle of Man from 7 to 13 September 2011. Their participation marked their second Commonwealth Youth Games appearance. The delegation of Tonga consisted of three officials and four competitors participating in three different sports— athletics, boxing and swimming. This was a decrease in the number of athletes from the nation's last appearance at the Games, when nine athletes were sent to the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune. Heamasi Sekona won a bronze in the light heavyweight class of boxing without winning a single bout. Sekona was the only medalist from Tongan side. None of the rest three athletes advanced past the qualifying stages, and thus did not win any medals. Katiloka ranked eighth overall in the qualifying round for triple jump; middleweight boxer, Pomale, lost to Cody Crowley of Canada in his first round match. Additionally, Prescott ranked 18th and 13th in the heat rounds of 50 m and 100 m backstroke events respectively. Sekona's was the first medal for Tonga in the history of the Games.
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Fakahau Valu is a former Tongan rugby union player. He played as a flanker.
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Keta Iongi (1947–2017) was a female athlete who competed for Tonga at the South Pacific Games and at the British Commonwealth Games as a sprinter and hurdler and in the modern pentathlon.
John Kevin Alipate Ahio, known professionally as Hemi Ahio, is a New Zealand born Tongan professional boxer.
Sanitesi Latu is a former Tongan Athlete who has represented Tonga at the Commonwealth Games, Pacific Games, and Pacific Mini Games.
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References
- 1 2 3 4 "Seven named for the National Sports Hall of Fame". Matangi Tonga. 8 December 2009. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
- ↑ "Mani Vaka Kafalava - Tongan Boxing Champion 1970s". YouTube. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
- ↑ "Mani Vaka". BoxRec. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
- ↑ "They seek chance to come out fighting". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 43, no. 3. 1 March 1972. p. 45-47. Retrieved 7 August 2022– via National Library of Australia.
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