Samoa coach Lionel Elika Fatupaito dies in Olympic village
Samoa’s boxing coach, Lionel Elika Fatupaito, has passed away in the Olympic Village.
The 60-year-old died on Friday morning and the news was confirmed by the Samoan Olympic Committee.
In a statement, Committee president Pauga Talalelei Pauga said: “Lionel was one of Samoa’s top boxing coaches and a great believer in the Olympic ideal.
“Our thoughts and those of the entire Samoan sporting community are with Lionel's family, his boxers and friends. He will be greatly missed.”
Athletes and delegates prayed together ahead of yesterday’s opening ceremony as they remembered Fatupaito, who suffered a cardiac arrest.
“The Samoan NOC will not issue any further statements and requests that the privacy of Lionel’s family and the athletes are respected during this difficult time,” the statement continued.
Heavyweight Ato Plodzicki-Faoagali is Samoa’s lone boxer at the Paris games. The 25-year-old is the top seed in his division and fights Belgian Victor Schelstraete in the round of 16 on Sunday.
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.