THE SUCCESS STORY

OCEANIA WEIGHTLIFTING INSTITUTE

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INSTITUTE

The Oceania Weightlifting Institute was a concept created by Paul Coffa in 2002.

In Australia, Paul had coached hundreds and hundreds of lifters at the Hawthorn Weightlifting Centre in Melbourne from 1965 to 1994. Many of these lifters made the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games and World Championships.

Juan Antonio Samaranch President of the IOC visits the Weightlifting Institute in Nauru 1998.

One of his protégé and one of the most successful lifters he has ever coached was Marcus Stephen from Nauru. Winner of 7 Commonwealth Games Gold medals and 5 Silver medals. And because of Marcus Stephen, Paul was offered a unique challenge by the Government of Nauru in 1994 to move to Nauru with his young family, to establish the Nauru Olympic Committee. He became the Sports Director of the NOC. Obviously with Paul’s background in weightlifting and Marcus Stephen returning to Nauru after having completed his university studies in Melbourne, weightlifting was introduced to the youth of Nauru on the island. Seven years later Nauru weightlifters were winning Oceania and Commonwealth Championships and dominating the Pacific Games medal tally in weightlifting

In 2002, after having spent seven years in Nauru, Paul made a decision to retire, and moved his family to Sigatoka - Fiji. Unfortunately this retirement idea only lasted a few months, before he decided that he would continue his passion of coaching and so the concept of the Oceania Weightlifting Institute program was born. Using his own personal funds ($71,000) he built a weightlifting centre in Sigatoka and purchased $35,000 of equipment. He decided to call this weightlifting centre, Oceania Weightlifting Institute and it was officially opened on the 12th April, 2002.

The Oceania weightlifting Institute in Sigatoka - Fiji 2002

Seiuli Paul Wallwork, OWF President officially opened the Institute.

OBJECTIVES:

The purpose for establishing this Institute was:

To assist athletes within the Pacific region to train in a professional environment.
To prepare elite athletes of the Pacific for major international events such as the Pacific Games, the Commonwealth Games, World Championships and of course the Olympic Games.
To educate further the athletes in the requirements of preparation for major international events.
To provide a platform for regional coaches to further their coaching experience with elite athletes.
To retain the Pacific culture whilst athletes train in an international environment.

2002

The major success for 2002 was the Commonwealth Games held in Manchester. Lifters who trained at the Institute produced outstanding results by winning 2 gold, 5 silver and 9 bronze medals.
The Fiji Weightlifting Federation (FWF) also benefited tremendously in 2002. With the assistance of the Institute, Fiji was provided with an opportunity to develop its Federation. In October 2002 the first ever national championships was held in Levuka, Fiji, with 40 lifters taking part, followed by another tournament held at the Institute for the F.W.F. in December 2002.
54 lifters from 7 countries trained at the Institute. Some full time and some part time.

2003

The focus in 2003 was the Pacific Games held in Suva. The lifters training at the Institute accounted for 77% of Gold medals, 80% of silver medals and 64% of bronze medals won at the Pacific Games.

Three Pacific top lifters at the South Pacific Games.

The Fiji National Team at the South Pacific Games.

From August to December, 2023, the OOC program came into force and this enabled certain lifters to train full time at the institute for lengthy periods. They benefited greatly from this especially in their approach to major events. 57 lifters from 12 countries trained at the Institute. Again some of these athletes trained for a period of time with a few training for a shorter period.

2004

The first six months of 2004 saw 70 lifters from 9 countries training at the Institute preparing this time for the 2014 Oceania championships which was also an Olympic Qualification event.
All Oceania lifters, who qualified, (with the exception of the two Australians,) or received invitation cards to compete at the Athens Olympic Games trained at the Institute.
The lifters of the Pacific competing in Athens were as follows:
Nauru: Yukio Peter (IOC Scholarship), Reanna Solomon (IOC Scholarship), Itte Detenamo (OOTC program)
Samoa: Uati Maposua
PNG: Dika Toua (Solidarity & OOTC program)
FSM: Manuel Minginfel (Solidarity & OOTC program)
American Samoa: Eleei Ilalio (OOTC program)
Kiribati: Meameaa Thomas (Solidarity)
Fiji: Ivy Shaw (FASANOC)
Cook Islands: Sam Pera (Solidarity & OOTC program)
Ten lifters representing eight countries of the Pacific competed at the Athens Olympics Games. Dika Toua (PNG) three times PNG sports women of the Year, placed 6th , which was the highest placing of any Pacific athlete from any sport.

Oceania lifters training at the Institute in preparation to the Oceania Championships in Suva, Fiji.

Pacific lifters staying in Sigatoka at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute together with IWF officials, Mr. Robert Nagy and Mr. Attila Adamfi.

2005 The cross road…

Coming to the crossroads and in order to achieve better results, the Institute needed to elevate the Pacific lifters standard further in order for them to rank higher at world level. With the combined support of the National Federations, the National Olympic Committees, the Oceania National Olympic Committee (IOC Solidarity) and the OOTC Program the Pacific lifters took a big step forward.

Whilst all of this was happening, Seiuli Paul Wallwork, President of the Oceania Weightlifting Federation, made a special visit to Fiji and in the course of events convinced Paul Coffa to relocate the Institute to Samoa, as Samoa was building a world class facility in Tuainamato. The SPG Minister and the Prime Minister of Samoa played a big part in securing the relocation of the Institute program, the Coffa family and the elite athletes of the region.

Accommodation for the athletes however was an issue. Whilst training facilities were provided there was no accommodation at all for the athletes to stay. Therefore, the Government came to a 50 / 50 agreement by providing $75,000 AUD and Paul Coffa from his own personal funds provided a further $75,000 AUD to build the accommodation facility within 50 metres from the weightlifting stadium.

The Institute program was relocated to Apia on October 12th, 2005 and was met with instant success when institute lifter, Yukio Peter (Nauru), won a silver medal at the Centennial World Championships in Qatar in December 2005.
The Institute in conjunction with the Samoa Weightlifting Federation in July 2006 held the biggest international weightlifting event the Pacific has ever seen with 30 countries taking part and massive television coverage not only local, the Pacific region but also international in China. The event was the Commonwealth & Oceania Championships and the first Pacific Rim International.
Another success for the Institute program, was at the World Championships in the month of October, 2006, when Manuel Minginfel (FSM) won a silver medal in Santo Domingo.
Obviously whilst the institute program was located in Samoa, the local lifters benefited greatly and produced vastly improved results. There was also a huge increase in the number of lifters.
Institute lifters at the South Pacific Games in 2007 won 39 out of 45 gold medals

The Minister for the SP Games opens the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in Apia Samoa on October 12th, 2005.

The Weightlifting Institute in Samoa.

The training Hall in Samoa in 2005.

The Institute produced the greatest female lifter the region has ever seen . She started in November 2005. Three years later Ele Opeloge placed 4th at the Beijing Olympic Games and eight years later she was rewarded with the Olympic Silver medal when the initial 2nd and 3rd place getters at the Beijing Olympics were found to be positive on doping. Ele became the first female weightlifter to win an Olympic medal in the Oceania region.

Seiuli Paul Wallwork with his son Tuapepe Jerry Wallwork were and are the master minds behind Samoa's world success.

2005 - 2007 Oceania Weightlifting Institute Statistics in Samoa.

2005 MINI GAMES PALAU (45 Gold medals) Institute Lifters won 33

2007 SOUTH PACIFIC GAMES (45 Gold medals) Institute Lifters won 39

2007 ARAFURA GAMES DARWIN (15 Gold medals) Institute Lifters won 7

2006 COMMONWEALTH GAMES Institute Lifters won 2 Silver and 2 Bronze medals

OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005 (15 Gold medals) Institute Lifters won 7

2006 (15 Gold medals) Institute Lifters won 8

2007 (15 Gold medals) Institute Lifters won 10

2008 (15 Gold medals) Institute Lifters won 5

COMMONWEALTH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005 (15 Gold medals) Institute Lifters won 2

2006 (15 Gold medals) Institute Lifters won 6

2007 (15 Gold medals) Institute Lifters won 9

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005 1 Silver medal

2006 1 Silver medal

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (Junior) 2006 1 Bronze medal

The number of lifters training at the Institute (Fiji) in 2005 were 60 from the 13 countries
The number of lifters training at the Institute (Samoa) in 2006 were 78 from the 13 countries

(plus 16 overseas countries trained during the Pacific Rim International held in Apia)

The number of lifers training at the Institute (Samoa) in 2007 were 92 from 14 countries

(plus 24 overseas countries trained during the World Cup held in Apia.

2008 NEW CALEDONIA...A NEW ERA

In February 2008, the Oceania Weightlifting Institute program was relocated to Noumea, New Caledonia. The New Caledonian Government built a new facility to cater for the relocation. Lifters continued to train towards the Beijing Olympics Games. The Institute lifters placed as follows in Beijing:

MEN

Nauru: Itte Detenamo, placed 10th in the +105Kg category

FSM: Manuel Minginfel placed 11th in the 62Kg category

Cook Islands: Samuel Pera junior placed 12th in the +105Kg category

Tonga: Maamaloa Lolohea placed 13th in the+105Kg Category

Kiribati: David Katoatau placed 15th in the 85Kg category

Tuvalu: Logona Esau placed 23rd in the 69Kg category

Fiji: Joe Vueti placed 23rd in the 77Kg category

WOMEN

PNG: Dika Toua, placed 8th in the 53Kg Category

Solomon Islands: Wendy Hale placed 12th in the 58Kg category

2009

The new Institute building was officially opened in New Caledonia, on August 1st, 2009. This would house the Oceania Weightlifting Institute program, as well as house the Oceania and Commonwealth headquarters. It was officially declared open by Monsieur Philippe Gomez, President of the New Caledonia Government , Monsieur Eric Gay Mayor of the City of Mont Dore and H.E. Marcus Stephen, President of the Republic of Nauru and President of the Oceania Weightlifting Federation. 250 guests attended.

The Oceania Weightlifting Institute accommodation at the Institute and training halls.

Guests at the opening Ceremony of the Oceania Weightlifting Institute.

Two great friends, His Excellence Marcus Stephen with Sam Coffa.

(The cutting of the ribbon at the main entrance by Monsieur Pierre Frogier, Deputy of the Republic of France, Monsieur Phillip Gomez, President of New Caledonia Government, Mr Ma Wenguang, IWF General Secretary, His Excellency Marcus Stephen, OWF President, Monsieur Ronald Frere OWF Vice President, and the Mayor of the City of Mont Dore Monsieur Eric Gay.)

Other guests at the opening of the Institute, included Heads of State and Government Ministers of the different Pacific Island nations, local government officials including Monsieur Pierre Frogier, Deputy of the Republic of France and President of the South Province, Monsieur Maurice Ponga the former Minister for Sport of New Caledonia and now Member of the European Government, the current Minister for Sport for New Caledonia , the President and Board members of the Le Comité Térritorial Olympique et Sportif (CTOS), the President and Board members of the NC 2011 Pacific Games Organizing Committee, the Secretary General and the CEO of the Pacific Games Council

The IWF weightlifting personalities who travelled to New Caledonia for this special occasion were Mr. Ma Wenguang then General Secretary of the IWF and President of the Weightlifting Association of the People’s Republic of China, his personal secretary Ms. Wang Yan who was the Competition Manager for weightlifting at the Beijing Olympics. Mr. Sam Coffa, the then Vice President of the IWF, Mr. Nicu Vlad also Vice President of the IWF, the President of the European Weightlifting Federation, Dr. Antonio Urso, many times world champion Mr. Blagoi Blagoev, Mr. Matthew Curtain, London 2012 Weightlifting Competition Manager, and Ms. Reiko Chinen from Japan representing the 2016 Tokyo Bid.

Mr. Ma Wenguang, was extremely impressed and stated that the Institute program is unique in its operation in the world of weightlifting, is a concept of great forward thinking, and is a model that other continents should try to emulate. In the same manner the European President, Dr. Antonio Urso, was equally impressed and he believes that a regional concept such as this will not only develop weightlifters in the region but also promote the sport of weightlifting in a professional manner.

2010

PACIFIC GAMES SPORTS LEADERS VISITED THE INSTITUTE DURING THE 2010

Mr Takitoa Taumoepeau (Sec.General -Tonga National Olympic Commttee)
Mr Fred Maetoloa(President- Solomon Islands National Olympic Committee)
Mr Teake Esene Manatu (Sec General- Tuvalu National Olympic Committee)
Mr Peter Birati (President- Kiribati National Olympic Committee)
Ms.Rosie Blake (Sec.General- Cook Islands National Olympic Committee)
Mr Terry Sasser (Sec.General- Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee)
Mr Anthony Muller (President- Marshall Islands Weightlifting)
Ms.Lorraine Ma ( Sec.General & CEO of FASANOC)
Mr Patrick Bower (2011 Team Fiji- Chef de Mission)
Mr Pres-Nimes Ekwona (Gen.Secretary- Nauru Olympic Committee)
Mr Jean-Marc Domergue (Sec.General- CTOS),
Mr Alan Tano (President- Niue Weightlifting & Gen Secretary Niue National Olympic Committee)

INSTITUTE LIFTERS AT THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES IN INDIA

Yukio Peters wins Gold in the 77Kg Category 2010 Commonwealth Games

Itte Detenamo wins silver -2010 Games

2011

CHINESE NATIONAL TEAM TRAINING AT THE INSTITUTE

Chinese national team including Olympic and World Champions train at the Institute.

INSTITUTE LIFTERS SUCCESSFUL AT THE 2011 ARNOLD INTERNATIONAL

The highlight of the 2011 Arnold International Tournament held in Columbus –Ohio on March the 5th was the Pacific Islands against the USA team. There were some excellent results from both teams. The six Oceania institute lifters representing the:

Pacific Islands were : Manueli Tulo (Fiji), Manuel Minginfel(FSM), Yukio Peter, Itte Detenamo (Nauru), Steven Kari (Papua New Guinea) and David Katoatau (Kiribati).

The event was brilliantly organised by the competition directors, Mark Canella and Dan Bell. The volunteers were superb and the crowds were outstanding.

It was also great to see Arnold Schwarzenegger at the competition. It makes a lot of difference when you have a person like Arnold make an appearance and take a genuine interest in an event such as this.

Arnold Schwarzenegger with some of the Pacific Islands Team members.

2011 PACIFIC GAMES- NOUMEA

Lifters training at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute and past members of the Institute together produced 39 of the 45 gold medals.

The three day weightlifting event which concluded on September 7th, was claimed to be one of the best organised events of the Games. There were close battles, some great lifting and large audiences all day long. The event was televised live to many countries of the world with many VIP’s in attendance at different times.

2012

TEN INSTITUTE LIFTERS COMPETED AT THE LONDON OLYMPICS

A record number of ten lifters from the Institute competed at the London Olympics coming from FSM, Fiji, Nauru, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Tuvalu, Cook Islands and Solomon Islands.

Success breeds success.

The Institute was pleased to see that five of its lifters were the flag bearers for their countries at the Opening Ceremony. Tuvalu(Lapua Lapua), Kiribati (David Katoatau), Solomon Islands (Jenly Wini), Nauru (Itte Detenamo) Micronesia (Manuel Minginfel)

Jenly Wini

58kg Category

Solomon Islands.

Lapua Papua

62kg Category

Tuvalu.

Itte Detenamo

105+kg Category

Nauru.

David Katoatau

95kg Category

Kiribati.

Manuel Minginfel, the flag bearer for Micronesia put up a great performance on the stage - it was pure theatre. The crowd and media loved him. His photographs appeared in every English newspaper and his performance on the platform for his 4th consecutive Olympic Games was a sheer joy to watch. His 285kg was his best ever performance at the Olympics and this was done with only one clean & jerk

2013

PACIFIC MINI GAMES - WALLIS & FUTUNA

The lifters from the Oceania Weightlifting Institute representing the many island nations of the Pacific, dominated the male section winning seven of the eight categories. Many NOC’s and National Federations took advantage of the institute by sending their top athletes to New Caledonia and thereby securing their success and medals.

FRENCH SPORTS OFFICIALS VISIT THE INSTITUTE

The Institute on Friday 2nd August 2013 was visited by a French delegation of sporting champions and officials. The Delegation consisted :

Laura Flesel-Colovic , twice Olympic gold medallist , world and European champion in Fencing
Anne- Caroline Graffe, Olympic silver medallist and World and European Champion in Judo
Lara Grangeon, London Olympic representative, third at the Europeans and French champion in swimming.
Tony Estanguet, Three times Olympic gold medallist , world and European Champion in Canoeing.
Christian Karembeu, team member 1998 France FIFA World Cup champions , 2000 European Champions and playing with great teams such as Sampdoria (Italy) Real Madrid (Spain) , Middlesbrough (England) ,Olympiakos (Greece).
Dominique Charré, Deputy Director of Sports in the French Ministry of Sport and Education.
Felicia Ballanger, Three times Olympic gold medallist, world champion and world record holder in cycling.
Claude Fauquet, Consultant in high performance sports and management.
Gilbert Avanzini, specialist in sports psychology and past Director of sports at the French Sports Institute.
Gianni Cappai, co-ordinator of high performance sports at the Institute of Sport in France.

From Left: Mr.Gianni Capper, Mr.Claude Fauquet, Mr.Gilbert Avanzini, and Mr.Dominique Charre are introduced to the athletes.

Manuel Minginfel from FSM, Paul Coffa, Christian Karembeu, Lapua Lapua from Tuvalu and Tony Estanguet

The Oceania Weightlifting Institute was the venue for the 2014 OceaniaChampionships and Olympic Youth Qualification. The resident lifters from the Institute assisted enormously in the organisation of the Championships. Even though the man power was limited, the Institute lifters who were involved in running the event ensured that everything was covered.

The championships itself turned out to be a great success. The Institute received many emails acknowledging the success of the event and also acknowledging the smooth and professional running of the championships.

Institute lifters winning gold at the Oceania senior championships were: Itte Detenamo (NRU) David Katoatau (NRU), Manueli Tulo (FIJ), Steven Kari (PNG), Dika Toua (PNG) Guba Hale (PNG).

2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES - GLASGOW

What a great games Glasgow – Scotland turned out to be for the Institute lifters. History was created when Kiribati, David Katoatau won its first ever Commonwealth Games medal. Papua New Guinea also made history when they pocketed two gold medals with Dika Toua and Steven Kari. Nauru also won a silver medal with Itte Detenamo and Fiji won bronze with Apolonia Vaivai.

David Katoatau -Kiribati GOLD.

Dika Toua

PNG - GOLD

Steven Kari

PNG GOLD

Itte Detenamo

NAURU SILVER

Apolonia Vaivai

FIJI BRONZE

2015

THREE SPORTS WOMEN OF THE YEAR

The Institute was thrilled to see that three of its female scholarship holders won Sportswoman of the Year in their respective countries.

From left Luisa Peters –Cook Islands +75Kg Category, Dika Toua –Papua New Guinea 53Kg Category, 2014 Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist, Apolonia Vaivai – Fiji 75Kg Category 2014 Commonwealth Games Bronze medallist.

2015 PACIFIC GAMES - PORT MORESBY

The Institute was well represented amongst the medal winners at the Pacific Games in Port Moresby. At the opening ceremony, 50% of the countries’ flag bearers were weightlifters, most of these from the Institute. .Dika Toua was the final baton runner and she lit the torch.

2016

LIFTERS FORM THE INSTITUTE AT THE RIO OLYMPICS.

Eight lifters from the Institute took part in the 2016 Rio Olympics Games.

Elson Brechtefeld -NRU

Luisa Peters-

COK

Morea Baru-

PNG

Jenly Wini-

SOL

Manueli Tulo-

FIJ

Tanu Jungblut-

ASA

Apolonia Vaivai -

FIJ

David Katoatau-

KIR

YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - PENANG - MALAYSIA

From 65kg clean & jerk in 2014 to 122kg in 2016. This is the story of Eileen Cikamatana from Fiji, an OTIP student who was discovered in Fiji by Joe Vueti and Peni Tawai. Joe selected her to attend the training camp in New Caledonia in 2014. She moved to the Institute in February of 2016 and within eight months she became the Youth World Championship in the clean & jerk in the 69kg category with a lift of 122kg at the 2016 Youth World Championships held in Penang in October. She also won bronze in the overall total with 215kg.

Eileen Cikamatana – Fiji wins gold and Bronze in Penang

2017

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - TOKYO

Sensational institute weightlifter, 17 years of age, Eileen Cikamatana from Fiji, made history at the 2017 Junior World Championships held in Tokyo by winning two silver medals and one bronze medal. Eileen won a bronze medal in the snatch with a lift of 97kg, a silver medal in the clean & jerk with a lift of 132kg, only 1kg away from gold. She won the silver in the total of 229kg.

Eileen Cikamatana won 2 Silver and 1 Bronze in Tokyo.

ASHGABAT - INDOOR GAMES.

The performances of the lifters from the Institute, in some categories, were quite outstanding. Eileen Cikamatana (Fiji) won Gold in the 90kg category and was the only Oceania gold medallist from all the sports. She established twelve records in the Oceania Senior, Oceania Junior, Commonwealth Senior and Commonwealth Junior. Eileen snatched 111kg snatch and clean & jerk 142kg for a 253kg total.

Former Institute lifter, Apolonia Vaivai (Fiji) also won Silver in the 69kg category setting a new Oceania Senior record in the snatch of 105kg.

Port Vila – Vanuatu , Pacific Mini Games

The Institute lifters were brilliant. Most of the flag bearers at the Opening Ceremony were weightlifters, which gives you an idea of the popularity and success of weightlifting in the Pacific Islands. Many great performances were seen in Vanuatu and many institute lifters won medals during the three day tournament establishing a number of new records along the way.

2018

OWF ELITE TRAINING CAMP AT THE INSTITUTE

With the financial assistance of the IWF Development Program, an Elite Training Camp was held at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in Mont Dore, New Caledonia from the 24th January to the 4th February 2018.

The purpose of this training camp which was organised by the Oceania Weightlifting Federation, was to bring together the best regional lifters who had not only qualified for the Commonwealth Games but were also – most of them – medal prospects for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on April 4-15.

The camp produced some outstanding and inspirational performances. Leading coaches from the region also attended the camp. They were: Jerry Wallwork (Samoa), Joe Vueti (Fiji) and Tina Ball (New Zealand

The Institute organised the 2018 Oceania Championships.

The Institute organised the 2018 Oceania Championships and Youth Olympic qualification event in Mont Dore – New Caledonia.

The basketball stadium in Mont Dore was transformed in to an international weightlifting arena. Thanks to the Eleiko company for all the equipment which was donated to the Oceania Weightlifting Institute which were consequently used for the Oceania Championships. Seventeen platforms were available for training, eight platforms in the warm area plus the main platform on the stage. The webcast – 97 countries tuned in during the three days of competition. Thousands and thousands of viewers watched the event in Mont Dore, New Caledonia.

2018 GOLD COAST COMMONWEALTH GAMES.

Institute lifters produced some outstanding results during at the Commonwealth Games. Steven Kari from PNG won a gold medal in the 94kg category, Eileen Cikamatana from Fiji won a gold medal in the 90kg category, Dika Toua won a silver medal in the 53kg category, Morea Baru won silver in the 62kg category, and Charisma Amoe-Tarrant competing for Nauru won a silver medal in the+90kg category. Solomon Islands made history when Institute lifter Jenly Wini won their first ever medal at a Commonwealth Games when she clinched the bronze medal in the 58kg category.

Eileen Cikamatana

FIJ - GOLD

Steven Kari

PNG - GOLD

Dika Toua

PNG - SILVER

Morea Baru

PNG - SILVER

Charisma Amoe

NRU - SILVER

Jenly Wini

SOL - BRONZE

Charisma won Silver at the World Juniors Championship.

2018 At the World Junior Championships, young Institute lifter, Charisma Amoe-Tarrant, representing Nauru, won a silver medal in the clean & jerk with a lift of 142kg and bronze medal in the total with 245kg. She almost won gold in the clean & jerk with 146kg but received two red lights.

2019...

On January 26th all Institute lifters were invited to the 50th Anniversary of the Republic of Nauru. The weightlifting event was simply sensational. Brought back many memories. This was the first international weightlifting event held in Nauru since the 2000 Oceania Championships. Apart from the President of Nauru attending the event and many other dignitaries, it was great to see

so many lifters of the past attending the event. Quite a number of them were former Institute lifters.

2019 - ARAFURA GAMES - DARWIN

Weightlifting at the 12th Arafura Games held in Darwin, concluded with many Oceania records broken along the way.

The weightlifting event held at the new Darwin Convention Centre from the 27th to 29th April, produced some excellent results to a packed house every session. Seventeen countries took part in the event. Most of the Institute lifters competed, many of them were very successful in winning their categories. In the women, Dika Toua (PNG) won the 49kg category, Mary Lifu (SOL)won the 55kg category, in the men Morea Baru (PNG) won the 61kg category, Ruben Katoatau (KIR) won the 67kg category with Steven Kari (PNG) winning the 96kg category.

2019 WORLD JUNIORS CHAMPIONSHIPS - FIJI

Institute lifter, Larko Doguape, representing Nauru participated at the World Junior Championships held in Suva. He competed in the 73kg category, placing 12th.

The 2019 OWF Elite Training Camp was held in two locations, Samoa and New Caledonia.

Lifters from Australia, New Zealand, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Samoa, American Samoa, Kiribati, and New Caledonia attended these two training camps. The training camps were separated due to vast numbers of athletes attending. Both camps produced excellent results from those lifters who attended.

2019 PACIFIC GAMES, including the OCEANIA & COMMONWEALTH Championships for Senior, Junior and Youth were held in Apia, Samoa from July 9 to July 13. All institute lifters participated at this event (Dika Toua (PNG) won 3 gold, Mary Lifu (SOL) 3 gold, Elson Brechtefeld (NRU) 3 gold, Morea Baru (PNG) 3 gold, Steven Kari (PNG) 2 gold, David Katoatau (KIR) 2 Gold, Taretiita Tabaroua (KIR) 1 gold. The event was very well organised, with large crowds attending.

At the 2019 World Senior Championships in Pattaya, Thailand, every single lifter from the Institute took part, as the event was aqualifying event for the 2020 Olympic Games. Lifters from the Institute taking part were: DikaToua (PNG), Mary Lifu (SOL), Jenly Wini (SOL), Elson Brechtefeld (KIR) , Morea Baru (PNG), Ruben Katoatau (KIR), Taretiita Tabaroua (KIR), Steven Kari (PNG) and Larko Doguape (NRU).

Ian Laurie International

Over 50 lifters competed at the 2019 Ian Laurie International tournament held in Melbourne on the 23rd November. Lifters from the Institute included Lapua Lapua from Tuvalu, Elson Brechtefeld from Nauru and Tiiau Bakaekiri from Kiribati and Eileen Cikamatana from Australia.. The event produced excellent results with Eileen Cikamatana lifting in the 87kg category where she clean & jerked 152kg – which was one kilo over the junior world record. However the record could not be claimed as world records can only be broken at IWF sanctioned events
The best male lifter of the tournament was Lapua Lapua from Tuvalu in the 81kg category where he totalled 284kg. Whilst the best female lifter went to Eileen Cikamanata from Australia and she received the Eric Rosario Memorial Cup. The late Eric Rosario was a strong advocate for Women in Weightlifting.

At a special ceremony held in Sydney, on the 11th September 2019, at the Department of Immigration, Institute lifter, Fijian born Eileen Cikamatana became an Australian Citizen. Five days later, she was fully cleared by the IWF Executive Board held in Thailand to represent Australia internationally, effective immediately.

Her first International tournament competing for Australia was at the European Juniors in Romania. In the month of November, she competed in Lima, Peru during the IWF Grand Prix. She won the event and broke the World Junior record in the clean & jerk with a lift of 151kg competing in the 87kg category. On the 10th of December competing in the IWF World Cup in China, Eileen won the 81kg category and establish 3 more World Junior records in the Clean & jerk and Total.

Eileen, is the first Institute lifter to establish world records.

Eileen world record in Lima - Peru.

Eileen in Lima with Africa WL Fed. President Mr Khaled with the IWF General Secretary Mr Jalood.

Eileen three world records in China.

2020...

The year started for the Institute with another successful performance from Eileen Cikamatana when she competed in Rome at the World Cup on the 31st January where she won the 81kg category. At this event she also attempted the World Senior Record.

From 28th February to 1st March, the Australian International was held in Canberra. Here, every single lifter from the Institute took part as it was an Olympic Qualification Event. There was some excellent results from the Institute, with Dika Toua (PNG), Jenly Wini (SOL), Eileen Cikamatana (AUS), Morea Baru (PNG), Larko Doguape (NRU), Lapua Lapua (TUV), Marcincy Cook (NRU), Ruben Katoatau (KIR), David Katoatau (KIR), Mary Lifu (SOL), Tiiao Bakaekiri (KIR).

The end of an era in the Pacific.

From then onwards, the unthinkable pandemic hit. It destroyed not only our sport but also the Olympic Games for 2020. On June 14th the Institute program in Noumea came to an end, when all Institute lifters were repatriated to their home island nations as a result of the Coronavirus.

A VERY SAD ENDING TO A BRILLIANT CONCEPT.

Paul Coffa