Nauru was represented at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland by a single athlete, weightlifter Marcus Stephen, who would later become his country's President in 2007. The 1990 Games marked Nauru's first participation in the Commonwealth Games. Stephen competed in three events only, and won medals in all three, including one gold.
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The Pacific island nation Nauru first competed at the Summer Olympic Games in the 1996 games in Atlanta. It is the least populated nation in the 206-member International Olympic Committee. The nation is mainly known for its weightlifting tradition and all seven athletes that had competed for Nauru at the Olympics before 2012 were weightlifters.
Marcus Ajemada Stephen is a Nauruan politician and former sportsperson who previously was a member of the Cabinet of Nauru, and who served as President of Nauru from December 2007 to November 2011. The son of Nauruan parliamentarian Lawrence Stephen, Stephen was educated at St Bedes College and RMIT University in Victoria, Australia. Initially playing Australian rules football, he opted to pursue the sport of weightlifting, in which he represented Nauru at the Summer Olympics and Commonwealth Games between 1990 and 2002, winning seven Commonwealth gold medals.
Nauru at the 1994 Commonwealth Games was abbreviated NRU.
Nauru competed in the Olympic Games for the first time at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States from 19 July to 4 August 1996. The delegation consisted of three weightlifters; Quincy Detenamo, Gerard Garabwan, and Marcus Stephen. Their best performances were by Detenamo, who came 20th in the men's 76 kg category and Garabwan who finished 24th in the men's 91 kg event. Stephen failed to finish his event, but would later become President of the Republic.
Yukio Stinson Peter is a weightlifter from Nauru.
Nauru competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, that were celebrated in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. Nauru was represented by the Nauru Olympic Committee, and was the only nation out of 204 participating nations and territories that sent only a single athlete, and was one of 117 that won no medals at the Games. The sole athlete to represent the nation was Itte Detenamo, who participated in the weightlifting, and was the flag bearer in both the opening and closing ceremonies. This was the same number of athletes as at the 1996 Olympics, when Marcus Stephen represented the country in the same sport, but was a decrease from the nation's last appearance at the Games when three athletes were sent to Athens. Nauru earned a berth for the weightlifting event in the Oceania and South Pacific Olympic Weightlifting Championships in 2008 and a chance to send participants in swimming and athletics events, but chose to send only a weightlifter. Itte Detenamo competed in the Group B of heavyweight class, fifteenth and last event of the weightlifting. He did not earn a medal, but finished with a personal best.
Nauru was represented at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester by a team consisting solely of weight-lifters. Marcus Stephen, who became President of Nauru five years later, competed for the fourth and last time. The 2002 Games were the first edition of the Commonwealth Games in which he failed to win a gold medal; Nauru's two golds were won by Reanna Solomon.
Nauru was represented at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur by a team consisting in six weight-lifters and one runner, Aneri Canon. Marcus Stephen, who became President of Nauru nine years later, competed for the third time and won his country's only medals of the 1998 Games. There were no female competitors for Nauru, by contrast with the 2002 Games, in which women won ten of Nauru's fifteen medals, including its two gold.
Nauru has competed in seven editions of the Commonwealth Games to date, beginning in 1990. This very small country, which had a population of just 9,872 at the time of the 2002 census, succeeded in winning at least one medals on each occasion, including at least one gold in their first four appearances.
Reanna Solomon was a Nauruan weightlifter. She was the first female Nauruan athlete to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal, and remains one of the only three Nauruans ever to have won a Commonwealth Games gold, the others being Marcus Stephen and Yukio Peter.
Itte Junior Ronson Detenamo is a Nauruan weightlifter competing in the +105 kg category.
David Katoatau is an I-Kiribati weightlifter who received international press attention due to dance routines he performed following his lifts at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in order to bring attention to the impact of climate change on Kiribati.
Nauru took part in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, sending six athletes to compete in boxing and weightlifting. Nauru has won medals in every edition of the Commonwealth Games since it first took part in 1990, and in particular won fifteen medals in weightlifting at the 2002 Games in Manchester.
The Men's 77 kg weightlifting competition took place on 7 October. The weightlifter from Nauru won the gold, with a combined lift of 333 kg..
Nauru competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its fifth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The delegation consisted of two participants: Sled Dowabobo in the men's lightweight judo contest and Itte Detenamo in the men's super-heavyweight weightlifting competition. Dowabobo qualified as one of Oceania's highest ranked judo competitors while Detenamo made the Games based on his qualifying performance. Detenamo was the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Dowabobo was eliminated by his opponent Navruz Jurakobilov in the round of 64 and Detemano was 14th in his event.
Nauru competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. The country's participation in Brazil was its sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Nauru's delegation included two participants: Ovini Uera, a judoka in the men's middleweight judo category; and Elson Brechtefeld in the men's 56 kg weightlifting competition. Uera qualified as Nauru's top-ranked judoka, in the IJF World Ranking List through a quota slot from the Oceania Judo Union. Brechtefeld qualified by grant from the International Weightlifting Federation of an unused quota place. Uera was eliminated by Varlam Liparteliani in the round of 16 and Brechtefeld finished 15th in his event.
Weightlifting at the 2019 Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa was held on 9–13 July 2019 at the Faleata Sports Complex in Tuanaimato. The competition included ten men's and ten women's weight classes, with separate medals awarded in each weight class for the snatch and clean and jerk, as well as for the total lift.
Nauru competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The country's participation in Tokyo marked its seventh appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1996.
Ruben Katoatau is an I-Kiribati weightlifter.
Nauru competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England from 28 July to 8 August 2022. It was Nauru's ninth appearance at the Games.