Isireli Naikelekelevesi

Isireli Naikelekelevesi (born 17 December 1976) is a Fijian former middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. He is the Fijian national record holder in that event.^[1]

Born in Suva,^[2] he represented his country at the Summer Olympics in 1996, 2000 and 2004. In 1996 he anchored a 4 × 400 metres relay team including Soloveni Nakaunicina, Henry Semiti and Solomone Bole, while in the latter two years he ran in the heats of the 800 m.^[2] He competed in the 800 m heats at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and also appeared at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002 (reaching the semi-finals on his second attempt).^[3] He ran for Fiji at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in both 1996 and 1998.^[4]

His greatest successes came at regional level. He began with a 5000 metres bronze at the 1994 Oceania Junior Athletics Championships.^[5] He won three back-to-back middle-distance doubles at the South Pacific Games (1995, 1999, 2003) and also claimed a 400 metres bronze and relay silver in 2003.^[6] He remains the Games record holder in the 800 m. At the South Pacific Mini Games, he won a middle-distance double and took steeplechase bronze. The following edition in 2001 brought a sweep from 400 m to 1500 m and a fourth gold in the relay. At the 2005 edition he was edged out in the 1500 m by Samoa's Setefano Mika, but retained his 800 m and relay titles.^[7]

At the Oceania Athletics Championships he was a mainstay of distance running for a decade. He won his first 5000 metres title at the 1996 Oceania Athletics Championships and also won silver in the 10,000 metres. He won the 800 m title in 2000, but was beaten into second by New Zealander Gareth Hyett in 2002. He was again 800 m runner-up in 2006 finishing behind Samoa's Aunese Curreen.^[8]

In his last major international events he took two middle-distance silver medals behind Curreen at the 2007 Pacific Games and 2008 Oceania Athletics Championships.^[9]

Personal bests

All information from All Athletics and IAAF^[10]^[4]

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
1996	IAAF World Cross Country Championships	Stellenbosch, South Africa	257th	Senior race	44:18
	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	6th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:10.67
	Oceania Athletics Championships	Townsville, Australia	1st	5000 m	15:54.65
	Oceania Athletics Championships	Townsville, Australia	2nd	10,000 m	35:27.94
1998	Commonwealth Games	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	5th (h)	800 m	1:50.66
1999	IAAF World Cross Country Championships	Belfast, United Kingdom	153rd	Senior race	51:11
1999	IAAF World Cross Country Championships	Belfast, United Kingdom	127th	Short race	15:15
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	7th (h)	800 m	1:49.61
2000	Oceania Championships	Adelaide, Australia	1st	800 m	1:51.49
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	6th	800 m	1:50.74
2002	Commonwealth Games	Manchester, United Kingdom	8th (sf)	800 m	1:50.00
2002	Oceania Championships	Christchurch, New Zealand	2nd	800 m	1:54.11
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	7th (h)	800 m	1:49.08
2006	Oceania Championships	Apia, Samoa	2nd	800 m	1:55.30
2008	Oceania Championships	Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands	2nd	800 m	1:53.48
2008	Oceania Championships	Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands	2nd	1500 m	4:03.79

^ Top 10 All Time. Athletics Fiji. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
^ ^a ^b Isireli Naikelekelevesi. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
^ Isire Naikelekelevesi. Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
^ ^a ^b Isireli Naikelekelevesi. IAAF. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
^ Oceania Junior Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
^ South Pacific Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
^ South Pacific Mini Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
^ Oceania Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
^ 2008 Oceania Athletics Championships Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine. Athletics Oceania. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.
^ Isireli Naikelekelevesi Archived 2017-02-02 at the Wayback Machine. All Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-01-21.