| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality |  Fiji | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | November 14, 1944 Bua, Fiji | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 400 metres (qualified, injured) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University team | Brigham Young University Cougars | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | Team Fiji | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Clarence Robison [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on 22 September 2023. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saimoni Tamani (born 14 November 1944) is a Fijian former athlete who specialized in running the 400 metres (400-meter dash).
Tamani was a track star at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. [2]
Tamani won a gold medal in the 1966 South Pacific Games in Noumea. He won three gold medals at the 1969 South Pacific Games in Port Moresby. At the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Tamani won the bronze medal in the 400 metres with a time of 45.82 seconds. [3] It was Fiji's first medal in athletics at the Commonwealth Games since 1950. He was slated to compete at the 1972 Summer Olympics [4] in Munich, West Germany, but suffered a foot injury during the NCAA indoor track season. [5]
In 1973 he moved to the United States, where he worked at a paper mill in Longview, Washington, retiring after 30 years. [6] [7]
He was inducted into the Fiji Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. [8] [9]
Tamani is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [10]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representing Fiji | |||||
| 1966 | South Pacific Games | Nouméa, New Caledonia | 1st | 4x400 m relay | 3:24.08 min |
| 1969 | South Pacific Games | Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea | 1st | 400 m | 48.8 s |
| 1st | 800 m | 1:57.3 min | |||
| 1st | 4x400 m relay | 3:19.6 min | |||
| 1970 | 1970 Edinburgh | Edinburgh, Scotland | 3rd | 400 m | 45.82 s |
Krešimir "Krešo" Ćosić was a Croatian-Yugoslavian professional basketball player and coach. He was a collegiate All-American at Brigham Young University. He revolutionized basketball in Yugoslavia and was the first basketball player in the world to play all five positions.
Alma Wilford Richards was an American athlete. He was the first resident of Utah to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games, in 1912, in the running high jump event.
Douglas Padilla is a former middle and long distance runner from the United States, who won the overall Grand Prix 1985 and the World Cup 5000m race in 1985. He finished fifth in the 5000m final at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, and seventh in the 5000m final at the 1984 Summer Olympics. In the 1983 World Championships 5,000-metre final, Padilla was among the favourites, but he succumbed to the radically accelerating pace of top runners, such as Ireland's Eamonn Coghlan, East Germany's Werner Schildhauer and Finland's Martti Vainio, during the last lap. He lost to the winner, Coghlan, by 3.55 seconds, but managed to defeat another unlucky favourite, West Germany's Thomas Wessinghage, by 0.38 seconds. By contrast, the fast 1984 Olympic 5,000-metre final was tough for Padilla already after 3,000 metres, and he painstakingly defeated New Zealand's John Walker who finished eighth. He was ranked number 1 in the world in 1983 for the 3000-meter distance.
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Lelei Alofa Fonoimoana, also known by her married name Lelei Moore, is an American former swimmer who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec.
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