Beatrice Faumuina

A trailblazing athlete who helped usher in a golden period of New Zealand throwing Beatrice Faumuina – fondly known as Queen Bea – is perhaps best remembered for creating history in 1997 and becoming the first Kiwi to win a world championship title.

Strong and athletic, Beatrice also won back-to-back Commonwealth discus titles, a World Cup crown competed at four Olympic Games and her mark of 68.52m set in Oslo in 1997 still stands today as a New Zealand record.

An only child born and raised in Lynfield in West Auckland by her mother and grandmother her family instilled in Beatrice a belief and work ethic which would later allow her to thrive.

“I saw my mother work during the day and study in the evening to advance her career and I thought that was normal,” explains Beatrice. “I saw from my family who migrated from Samoa that I was part of an environment where there was choices and opportunities. I had a really understanding of wanting to contribute towards a goal and the work required to succeed.”

A promising softball and netball player, Beatrice was first introduced to shot put and discus throw while attending Wesley Intermediate School and quickly discovered a talent. Yet it was only after setting an Auckland shot put age group record with the 3.25kg shot put at the Auckland Schools Championships on the North Shore did her focus switch.

“That was where my life changed, that was the turning point,” she says.

Shortly after she was introduced to her first coach Miriam Stanley, who was attached to Owairaka AC. Aged 13 at that time and under Miriam’s watchful eye, Beatrice stepped up her commitment to athletics.

“Sport is based on the true spirit of volunteers, and Miriam epitomised that,” explains Beatrice. “Had I never met Miriam I would have pursued other codes. That year I was an Auckland rep in netball, softball and athletics, but it was thanks to Miriam’s support I chose athletics.

“What I admired most about her was her level of commitment and her desire to see you succeed. She always had that willingness to want to help others, which is classic athletics because we have so many parents, coaches and volunteers who love the sport and who enjoy supporting others to succeed.”

Training twice a week at Margeret Griffen Park in Lynfield she was a superstar age group athlete winning a host of national titles and setting an impressive array of national records. Also supported by coaches Sam Johnson and Max Carr in 1992 – at the age of 16 – she made her New Zealand debut on the global stage competing at the World U20 Championships in Seoul. There she finished an eye-catching fifth in the discus and just missed out on a place in the shot put final by 1cm in what was a an invaluable experience for the Kiwi teenager.

“It was an incredible opportunity and in many ways competing there was comparable to completing an Olympic campaign,” she says. “To throw 52.20m and break the New Zealand record in Seoul and to think I was fifth in the world – nothing could quite compare to it.”

In 1993 Beatrice claimed the first of her 17 national senior discus titles – she would also win four national senior shot gold medals – and the following year, while still aged only 19, she won selection for the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada. Ranked fifth coming into the competition she recalls with a laugh how nervous she was on competition morning compared to New Zealand 100m sprinter Gus Nketia.

“Gus had a full on breakfast with everything on his plate,” she explains. “All I was thinking was, ‘how can he eat all that and still run?’ I was so nervous I could hardly touch the plate. I remember thinking I need to get to that point one day (when I could eat food comfortably on competition day).”

The competition had gone according to the script for the first five rounds as Beatrice sat in fifth only to then launch a mighty PB and New Zealand record of 57.12m in the final round to catapult her to silver. 

“I looked at the distance and thought this can’t be happening,” she says. “It was an overwhelming experience. I just had a sense of relief and happiness, although from that point on I was no longer Beatrice from Lynfield College who competed at Owairaka AC. I now had to learn and understand a life with a public profile.”

Preparing for the 1995 World Championships her world was shattered in February that year following the sudden death of her coach Miriam from a heart attack.

Traumatised by her coach’s passing and it took months to fully recover from the shock.

“I was stunned. I had lost a coach, but she was far more than a coach she was a great family member who I shared so many great experiences with over the years. To this day had it not been for Miriam I would not have been in track and field.”

Yet if Miriam was to provide the foundation of her athletics career the next tier was to be built by her next coach, Les Mills, the 1966 Commonwealth shot champion, founder of Les Mills gyms and at that time Mayor of Auckland.

“I received a phone call one day and was asked to give Les a call,” recalls Beatrice. “It was a very nerve-wracking call because I not only respected him from an athletics perspective but also because he was Mayor of Auckland and he had built a fitness empire through his family business. Following the phone call, he agreed to meet me, where he discussed a lot around big picture thinking. I was very lucky to have met this incredible gentleman who was willing to spend his time to look after and nurture my athletics development.”

Under Les’ guidance, Beatrice admits “the intensity of training went up to another level” and the volume was significantly enhanced. She made improvements – finally smashing through the 60m barrier for the first time in 1995 and extending her PB and national record out to 64.04m in Hobart in 1996. However, she was disappointed to have placed 28^th at the 1995 World Championships Gothenburg and was left devastated on her Olympic debut the following year in Atlanta, after finishing down in 23^rd more than five-and-a-half metres down on her PB.

“Overwhelmed” by the experience and such was her level of disappointment she was ready to quit the sport post-Atlanta, however, it was the words of her mother which banished such thoughts.

“When I told my mum I was thinking of quitting she said, ‘You have to make a choice. If you walk away from this at no point are you ever going to have a conversation with me wishing you had stayed, you need to make a choice.

“A couple of days later I thought I need to get this feeling out of system, and I came back with a different level of energy. The disappointment absolutely fuelled me to get it right in 1997 and I returned to training very quickly after the Olympics thinking, I never want to feel like this again.”

Training seven days a week all the pieces of the puzzle seemed to come together for her 1997 campaign. Her strength level improved in the gym, she had an ideal training partner in New Zealand men’s discus record-holder Ian Winchester while Athletics NZ had put some resources into a throws camp which included world-class support from German biomechanist Klaus Bartonietz.

“That for me was quite pivotal because I was not only training very well but I also now had a technical expert offer support,” she adds.

The 1997 campaign started with a bang. She dominated domestically in New Zealand and set a PB of 64.66m at the Robin Tait Classic in Auckland. She then headed over to Australia and repeatedly felled their 1990 Commonwealth Games champion Lisa-Marie Vizaniari – highlighted by a stunning national record throw of 68.28m at the Australian Championships.

Her next challenge came when facing the top European throwers in Oslo – and it was task she was more than capable of matching, winning at the historic Bislett Games with a New Zealand record mark of 68.52m.

“I recall the whole competition was incredible,” she says. “It was one of the best series I’d ever put together, and to do it in Oslo the pinnacle event before world champs proved to me, I could compete against the best in the world.”

On the back of her incredible year, she went into the World Championships in Athens as clear favourite. But unlike other major championships when she became “overwhelmed” by the experience she was more than ready for the challenge.

Having practised in training every possible scenario, Beatrice remained unfazed following fouls in the opening two rounds in the final. Remaining calm and composed she launched the 1kg discus out to 66.82m in round three to take the lead.

“I just remember a feeling of relief and I waved at the discus for it to stay inside the sector.”

The challenge came from Ellina Zvereva of Belarus (65.90m), but the Aucklander remained unsurpassed and made history as the first New Zealander to become a world athletics champion.

With her mother attending Beatrice’s first ever overseas competition in Athens, and presented her gold medal by New Zealand coaching icon Arthur Eustace the occasion could not have been sweeter for Queen Bea who said: “It was an incredibly special time and a wonderful sporting moment for me. It proved that if you make changes and evolve as a person, incredibly good things can happen. Out of my world champion victory lots of career options opened for me. I wanted to study and work to ensure I had a career open to me after sport.”

Her accomplishments in 1997 in which she claimed 21 victories from 22 competitions earned her the Supreme Award at the Halberg Awards and the Lonsdale Cup.

In 1998 she added the Commonwealth title to her collection outslugging old Australian rival Lisa-Marie Vizaniari to strike gold in Kuala Lumpur courtesy of a Games record of 65.92m.

With Les present as Chef de Mission of the team she explains: “It was a very different set of emotions winning gold in Kuala Lumpur compared to the previous year in Athens. The level of pressure was the same, but expectations were a lot higher.”

Unfortunately, injuries then started to take a toll. Repeated calf tears and a ruptured plantar fascia made it difficult for Beatrice to produce her best. In the defence of her title at the 1999 World Championships in Seville she placed fifth while at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games she wound up a distant 12^th.

“My body was starting to break down ahead of Sydney and for me to have even made the final was a miracle,” she says. “That was the moment when I thought the Olympic Games is maybe just not for me.” then later in 2000 she suffered another injury blow after rupturing her Achilles.

After undergoing surgery, she pulled the pin on the 2001 World Championships and focused her efforts on the defence of her Commonwealth title the following year working with a new coach, Debbie Strange. In Manchester and competing in torrential rain, Beatrice coped best with the soggy conditions to retain her title with a best of 60.83m. 

“To me it was just like training at Waitakere on a wet, stormy day,” she says. “It was special to win again.”

Beatrice then capped a fine year by winning the World Cup discus title in Madrid with a best of 62.47m.

Competing for a further eight years before retiring she continued to be a highly accomplished discus thrower without perhaps hitting the heights of her past. In 2004 – while serving as New Zealand team captain – she achieved the best Olympic performance of her career to finish sixth at the Athens Games. At the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki she finished 46cm shy of podium in fourth while the following year in Melbourne she was denied a hat-trick of Commonwealth titles placing fourth.

On her fourth and final Olympic appearance at the 2008 Beijing Games she placed 27^th before wrapping up her career shortly before her 37^th birthday when placing fifth at the women’s discus at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi – in what was her fifth Commonwealth appearance.

“I have so many fond memories of my 20 plus years in athletics,” she recalls. “It wasn’t always perfect, and I would have loved to have done certain things differently but that is when you learn most about yourself, your character. Understanding all of this was a foundation for life after sport.”

Post athletics in 2011 she took up the role of chief executive of the BEST Pasifika Leadership Academy and Charitable Foundation – a position she served for four years. After working for a short period in talent and people management at the ASB in 2015 she relocated to New York for a four-year stint as Trade Commissioner and Consul General – proudly representing New Zealand business in North America.

Now back living in Waitakere, Beatrice has many roles today. Recently taking up a position as High Performance Academy Manager for Barfoot and Thompson she also works as a director at Sport NZ and Trusts Arena. A recipient of the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award and a Kea World Class New Zealander, Beatrice also works on a successful podcast with broadcaster Niva Retimanu. She was awarded an ONZM in 2005.