Isireli Naikelekelevesi was born in the Capital City and represented Fiji as a middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres event.
In May 21, 1999, The Fiji Times published an article about Naikelekelevesi participating in 10km Puma Rd when he was 23 years old.
He represented Fiji at the Summer Olympics in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
During the 1996 Olympics, he anchored the 4×400m relay team which included Soloveni Nakaunicina, Henry Semiti and Solomone Bole.
Naikelekelevesi competed in the 800m heats at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and also appeared at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002, reaching the semi-final in his second attempt.
He ran for Fiji at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in both 1996 and 1998.
For Naikelekelevesi, his greatest successes came at regional level where he won a bronze at the 1994 Oceania Junior Athletics Championships for competing in the 5000m.
He won three back-to-back middle-distance doubles at the South Pacific Games (1995, 1999 and 2003) and also claimed the 400m bronze and relay silver medals in 2003.
He remains the Games record-holder in the 800m. At the South Pacific Mini Games, he won a middle-distance double and took the steeplechase bronze.
At the 2001 Pacific Games, he won gold in the 400m, 800m, 1500m races with a fourth gold in the relay event.
At the 2005 Games, he was edged out in the 1500m by Samoa’s Setefano Mika, but retained his 800m and relay titles.
In his last major international event, he took two middle-distance silver medals at the 2007 Pacific Games and 2008 Oceania Athletics Championships.
