PHILIPPI, W.Va. – Isaac Silafau, a 2015 graduate of Alderson Broaddus University, will participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro which begin on Friday August 5th.
He will compete for American Samoa in the 100-meter preliminaries on August 13th and is also expected to take part in the Opening Ceremonies August 5th which will be live on NBC at 7:30 p.m. EST.
"It is just a huge honor to have "Ice" running at the Olympics and we are all so proud of what he has done to get to this point in his career," said cross country and track & field head coach Jesse Weiner. "It is surprising but exciting to see all that hard work he has put into his training and I am not surprised in that aspect."
American Samoa is an unincorporated piece of land located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Samoa and owned by United States. In the 2010 census, it was reported that American Samoa is comprised of roughly 56,000 people.
Silafau, who is from Medford, Oregon and a graduate of North Medford High School, was recruited to Alderson Broaddus to play football but he competed on the track & field team for the Battlers.
During his football career with AB, he finished with 88 career receptions and 952 yards which both rank second in school history.
"It is a great honor for AB to have a participant in the Olympics and just goes to show what quality work our coaches are doing here," said athletic director and head football coach Dennis Creehan. "Our entire athletic department wishes the best of luck to Isaac as he participates in the Olympics."
During the football offseason, Silafau decided to run indoor and outdoor track for the Battlers in which he was a successful competitor.
In his senior season in 2015, he had a number of top finishes at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference indoor championships. He placed second in the triple jump with a leap of 12.49 meters while placing fifth in the 4x400-meter relay, and sixth in the 60-meter finals.
In the outdoor season, Silafau ran an 11.64 in the 100-meter dash and was crowned the G-MAC outdoor champion and also won the G-MAC crown in the javelin. His other top performances in the spring included a third place finish in the pole vault and the long jump.
"It is a tremendous honor to be a part of his story and his past," said Weiner. "I can't really put it into words but we are just really excited to see him run in Rio. The program has been growing over the last few years and this just shows to everyone that we are going in the right direction and we are striving forward."
He joins three other athletes from American Samoa who will compete in Rio in the upcoming weeks. Jordan Maego (track & field), Ben Waterhouse (judo), and Tanumafili Junglut (weightlifting) are the other three competitors.
There is currently a gofundme page set up for Silafau to help pay for all of his expenses during his journey to Rio. If you would like to contribute, please visit the page.
Check gobattlers.com or follow us on twitter at @abbattlers for news regarding Silafau's journey in Rio. The entire Olympics will be broadcasted through the NBC networks as well as the NBC Sports app in the iTunes and google play store.
