13 Jul 2012

Sport: Samoa's Olympic medal prospect suffers setback

6:48 pm on 13 July 2012

Samoa's olympic medal hope Ele Opeloge has suffered a blow to her preparations for the London Olympics.

The weightlifter has got the chicken pox and her coach Tuaopepe Jerry Wallwork says her training programme has been set back a week so she'll lose vital time in the gym.

Opeloge has been unlucky - she contracted typhoid which interrupted her preparation for the Commonwealth and Oceania champs in June, but she went on to win both.

Opeloge is ranked third in the world, and seen as the country's best prospect for its first ever Olympic medal.