Kinaua Biribo (born 14 August 1993 in South Tarawa) is an I-Kiribati judoka.

Kinaua Biribo
Personal information
Born (1993-08-14) 14 August 1993 (age 31)
South Tarawa, Kiribati
Sport
CountryKiribati
SportJudo
Event–70 kg

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.[1][2] She competed in the women's 70 kg event.[3]

Life

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Kinaua started judo as well as traditional kiribati wrestling to find a way to self-defense after her experience of sexual assault and abduction at age 6.[4]She initially took up wresting but she was only one of three women taking part. Kinaua uses her platform to raise awareness of the widespread domestic violence in her country and climate change and volunteered with the Kiribati Climate Action Network (Kiri-CAN).[4] She lost her first bout at the Olympics with the Australian Aoife Coughlan.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "'She can do it': Kiribati Olympic judo hopeful wants to combat domestic violence". 16 July 2021.
  2. ^ Srinivasan, Prianka; Fennell, Jordan (18 July 2021). "Struggling to get to Tokyo, Pacific Olympians fly with frozen fish, others train with heavy books". ABC News.
  3. ^ "Judo Results Book" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Olympic judo hopeful Kiribati wants to tackle domestic violence". archysport. 18 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Coughlan Wraps-up Aussie Action at the Home of Judo". Australian Olympic Committee. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for   Kiribati
Tokyo 2020
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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