Commonwealth weightlifting gold medallist dies of Covid aged 40
Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 07.07.22. | 09:26
Solomon won two gold medals in the super-heavyweight division at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
A Commonwealth Games weightlifting champion and Olympian has become the first Covid-related death in the tiny Pacific island republic of Nauru, the world's second smallest nation.
"Reanna Solomon, only 40 years of age, lost her life as a result of the Covid-19 virus," the Oceania Weightlifting Federation said in a statement Thursday.
President Lionel Aingimea had previously announced the death without disclosing the name, saying the first person to die with Covid in Nauru had passed away on July 1.
A Commonwealth Games gold medallist &Olympian Reanna Solomon,died of Covid at the age of 40.Solomon won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 in the super-heavyweight clean & jerk and total, as well as bronze in the snatch discipline. She leaves behind 5 young children. pic.twitter.com/7qMocAklwH
— R P Shah Memorial Trust for Kids & Global Health (@Rpshahmemorial1) July 7, 2022
Solomon won two gold medals in the super-heavyweight division at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and placed 10th at the Athens Olympics two years later.
"Apart from being a great athlete, Reanna was a devoted mother and wife and has sadly left behind her husband Tavita and their five children," Paul Coffa, the general secretary of the Commonwealth Weightlifting Federation, said.
"Reanna was a superb athlete, naturally strong, who started competing in weightlifting in the 1990s."
Editor's Pick
Nauru, with a population of fewer than 11,000, has more than 4,100 active Covid cases.
To curb the spread of the disease, the government has introduced on-the-spot fines of up to $6,800 for people walking around for non-essential reasons, not wearing a mask, and for gatherings of more than three people.
© Agence France-Presse
.jpg)
