The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Kiribati

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This page contains a list of the greatest I-Kiribati Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 1 of which were born in Kiribati. This makes Kiribati the birth place of the 144th most number of Athletes behind Costa Rica, and Saint Lucia.

Top 5

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary I-Kiribati Athletes of all time. This list of famous I-Kiribati Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of David Katoatau

1. David Katoatau (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 23.46, David Katoatau is the most famous I-Kiribati Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages on wikipedia.

David Katoatau (born 17 July 1984) is an I-Kiribati weightlifter who received international press attention due to dance routines he performed following his lifts at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in order to bring attention to the impact of climate change on Kiribati.

Photo of Madlen Radukanova

2. Madlen Radukanova (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 0.00, Madlen Radukanova is the 2nd most famous I-Kiribati Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 12 different languages.

Madlen Milenova Radukanova (Bulgarian: Мадлен Миленова Радуканова; born 14 May 2000) is a Bulgarian group rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic group all-around champion and the 2018 World 5 hoops champion. She is a two-time European champion, a two-time (2018, 2019) World group all-around bronze medalist, the 2017 World group all-around silver medalist, and the 2018 European group all-around bronze medalist.

Photo of Zhong Jiaqi

3. Zhong Jiaqi (b. 1999)

With an HPI of 0.00, Zhong Jiaqi is the 3rd most famous I-Kiribati Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 9 different languages.

Zhong Jiaqi (born 23 September 1999) is a Chinese field hockey player for the Chinese national team. She participated at the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup. In December 2019, she was nominated for the FIH Rising Star of the Year Award.

Photo of Kinaua Biribo

4. Kinaua Biribo (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 0.00, Kinaua Biribo is the 4th most famous I-Kiribati Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 6 different languages.

Kinaua Biribo (born 14 August 1993 in South Tarawa) is an I-Kiribati judoka. She represented her country in the middleweight tournament of the 2020 Summer Olympics, after participating at the 2021 World Championships (70 kg) in Budapest, and was the flagbearer at the Tokyo opening ceremony. She competed in the women's 70 kg event.

Photo of Lataisi Mwea

5. Lataisi Mwea (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 0.00, Lataisi Mwea is the 5th most famous I-Kiribati Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 6 different languages.

Lataisi Mwea (born 26 July 2000) is an I-Kiribati athlete who competes in sprinting events. From 2019, Mwea has been based at the OAA High Performance Training Centre in Gold Coast when he was sent by his Kiribati Athletics Association for a high jump training scholarship. He broke the national record for high jump when he jumped 2.00 m clear in October 2019. After a change of coach to Andrew Lulham, Lataisi indicated also an interest in undertaking sprint training in addition to his jumps training and linked with Leanne Hines-Smith for track sessions. From March 2020, he was stranded in Australia since the closure of borders of his own country and has to stay one year more in Gold Coast. In January 2021 Mwea set a new national record as he ran 22.61 for the 200 metres. Earlier in the day he ran a 100 metres race where he recorded 11.30 with a +2.5 headwind. On 12 June 2021, in Gold Coast, he ran in 11.03, the best ever run by an I-Kiribati but with the same too favorable wind. At the 2020 Summer Games 100m race Mwea ran his heat in 11.25 seconds.

People

Pantheon has 5 people classified as I-Kiribati athletes born between 1984 and 2000. Of these 5, 5 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living I-Kiribati athletes include David Katoatau, Madlen Radukanova, and Zhong Jiaqi. As of April 2024, 4 new I-Kiribati athletes have been added to Pantheon including Madlen Radukanova, Zhong Jiaqi, and Kinaua Biribo.

Living I-Kiribati Athletes

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Newly Added I-Kiribati Athletes (2024)

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