Ele Opeloge fell 1kg short of the bronze medal after a pinched nerve in her leg disrupted her 152kg lift. Photo / Getty Images
Two extra seconds of the weight of a nation proved to be too heavy for one of Samoa's greatest hopes for an Olympic medal - but who is still being hailed a hero in her motherland.
Ele Opeloge narrowly missed out on getting the island nation's first ever
Olympic medal, when she managed to lift a total of 269kg in the women's 75kg+ weightlifting event on Saturday - 1kg short of bronze winner Mariya Grabovetskaya of Kazakhstan, who lifted a total of 270kg.
The 23-year-old who took the sport up just over two years ago, had locked the 152kg weight in the clean and jerk category, lifted it over her head but could not hold on as her leg gave way, chef de mission Seb Kohlhase told the Herald yesterday.
"She should've got the bronze but she just had a pinched nerve at the back of her leg and she said she just couldn't move it forward to hold on - just 1 or 2 seconds and she would have got the bronze medal," he said.
Afterwards, an upset Opeloge apologised to her country, as she acknowledged the many prayers and great support the Samoan people had given her.
Mr Kohlhase said: "She said: 'I'm sorry I let my country down' and apologised to the Prime Minister and to the people of Samoa, as the whole nation was behind her in their support. "But we're very happy - this just was not her time and that time will come later on because she is still young," Mr Kohlhase said.
Although she has missed out on gaining what would have been Samoa's first Olympic medal, Miss Opeloge - who hails from the village of Vaoala - is already a star at home.
Currently ranked number one in the South Pacific and the Commonwealth, she dominated last year's South Pacific Games, won gold at the Asia Pacific weightlifting championship in Australia and smashed several Commonwealth Games records.
