Marcus Stephen
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Marcus Stephen (born October 1, 1969) is a professional weightlifter and member of Parliament of the South Pacific Island Republic of Nauru.
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[edit] Life
[edit] Sporting career
He initially played Australian rules football for the local team the Aces, but opted to pursue the sport of weightlifting. In 1989 the Nauru Weightlifting Federation (NWF) was founded, primarily to give Stephen, the sole professional weightlifter in Nauru at the time, the opportunity to compete internationally.
In 1992 he took part in his first Olympic Games in Barcelona. Since Nauru had no Olympic Committee at the time, he successfully applied for Samoan citizenship and was allowed to compete for Samoa. In 1993 the committee was founded and Stephen was able to represent Nauru in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
When the Olympic torch was carried to Sydney, Stephen had the honour of being a torch bearer during its stopover in Nauru. [1]
It was at the Commonwealth Games where most of his successes came: In the 1990 Commonwealth Games he surprisingly won a gold medal in the Snatch in the 60 kg category. In the 1994 Commonwealth Games in the 59 kg category and in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in the 62 kg category he collected three golds. In his last Games, the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester he won three silvers in the 62 kg category.
His greatest triumph came at the 1999 World Championship in Athens, where he was runner up in the clean and jerk in the 62 kg category.
[edit] Political career
Since 1997 he has been the Treasurer of the Nauru Olympic Committee. On 3 May 2003 Stephen was elected to the Nauru parliament with a score of just over 215 points, achieving first place in the Ewa and Anetan constituency. [2]
During the presidency of René Harris Stephen was Education and Finance Minister of Nauru from 8 August 2003 until 22 June 2004, a post he had to relinquish when Ludwig Scotty became the new president. In October 2004 he was re-elected to parliament. [3]
After Nauru joined the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on 15 June 2005, Stephen was nominated as a delegate for Nauru. He represented Nauru at the IWC-Congress in June 2005 in the South Korean city of Ulsan. [4]
[edit] References
- ^ Naura set to welcome Olympic torch. ABC News Online (2000). Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
- ^ Nauru uses a preferential voting system, where each voter awards 1 point to their first choice candiate, 1/2 point to their second choice candidate, 1/3 point to their their third choice candidate, and so on. See Adam Carr. Republic of Nauru - Legislative election of 3 May 2003. Psephos. Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
- ^ Adam Carr. Republic of Nauru - Legislative election of 23 October 2004. Psephos. Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
- ^ Annex A - Delegates and Observers Attending the 57 Annual Meeting (pdf). Chair's Report of the 57th Annual Meeting. International Whaling Commission (2005). Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
