Quick Facts
Biography
Beatrice Roini Liua Faumuina, ONZM (born 23 October 1974 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand discus thrower, a gold medallist at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics. She has represented New Zealand in three Summer Olympics. After winning the discus event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester she was featured on a stamp from Samoa.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics she placed 7th in the discus with a throw of 64.45 metres. Early in her career, she was coached by Les Mills, discus gold medallist at the 1966 Commonwealth Games.
On 16 October 2005, Beatrice Faumuina was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
In 2006 she appeared in the New Zealand version of the television series Dancing with the Stars where she was placed second. Since 2006 she has been a presenter on the Television New Zealand Pacific Islands current events programme Tagata Pasifika.
In 2007, Beatrice decided to focus on athletics and based herself in Australia for the majority of the year before competing in Osaka, Japan. She returned to good form after a disappointing injury plagued her 2006 season, placing her 4th at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. She threw 62.2 metres at a meet in Christchurch, beating rival Dani Samuels from Australia. This followed a winning throw of 62.08 throw at a meet in Canberra.
She placed 28th in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing with a throw of 57.18m, failing to qualify for the final. Her comments to media following her elimination were widely criticized after it was perceived that she was satisfied with what many viewed as a sub-standard performance.
Faumuina finished seventh in the 2009 Reebok Grand Prix in New York, with a throw of 56.73 metres. She was expected to compete in the Prefontaine Classic meet in Oregon, in order to throw the qualifying standard for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin. However, she did not attend the meeting and her coach stated that she had decided to focus on her upcoming Bachelor of Business Studies exams instead.
Faumuina has retired from discus throwing.
Achievements
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  New Zealand | |||||
| 1992 | World Junior Championships | Seoul, South Korea | 14th (q) | Shot put | 14.58 m |
| 5th | Discus throw | 52.20 m | |||
| 1994 | Commonwealth Games | Victoria, Canada | 9th | Shot put | 14.80 m |
| 2nd | Discus throw | 57.12 m | |||
| 1995 | World Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 28th (q) | Discus throw | 54.32 m |
| 1996 | Olympic Games | Atlanta, United States | 23rd (q) | Discus throw | 58.40 m |
| 1997 | World Championships | Athens, Greece | 1st | Discus throw | 66.82 m |
| 1998 | Commonwealth Games | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 4th | Shot put | 16.41 m |
| 1st | Discus throw | 65.92 m CR | |||
| 1999 | World Championships | Seville, Spain | 5th | Discus throw | 64.62 m |
| 2000 | Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia | 12th | Discus throw | 58.69 m |
| 2002 | Commonwealth Games | Manchester, United Kingdom | 1st | Discus throw | 60.83 m |
| World Cup | Madrid, Spain | 1st | Discus throw | 60.83 m | |
| 2003 | World Championships | Paris, France | 13th | Discus throw | 56.86 m |
| 2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 6th | Discus throw | 63.45 m |
| 2005 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 4th | Discus throw | 62.73 m |
| 2006 | Commonwealth Games | Melbourne, Australia | 4th | Discus throw | 59.12 m |
| 2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan | 25th (q) | Discus throw | 55.75 m |
| 2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 28th (q) | Discus throw | 57.15 m |
| 2010 | Oceania Championships | Cairns, Australia | 1st | Discus throw | 58.32 m CR |
| Commonwealth Games | Delhi, India | 5th | Discus throw | 57.79 m | |