Oceania Weightlifting Federation Latest News July,2014 WHAT A GREAT EVENT! Every year the Oceania Weightlifting Championships gets bigger in the numbers of participation of athletes. This years Oceania Senior, Junior and Youth Championships held at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in Mont Dore, New Caledonia was no exception. Even though the man power was limited, the people who were involved in running the event ensured that everything was covered. The championships itself turned out to be a great success. The OWF received many emails acknowledging the success of the event and also acknowledging the smooth and professional running of the championships. The competition hall at the Oceania WeightliftingInstitute This year the Youth Olympic Qualification event was combined with the championships. As a result we were honoured with the presence of the President of the IWF, Dr. Tamas Ajan who flew in all the way from Hungary and stayed with us for quite a few days. As well, we were happy to have with us the IWF Director General, Mr. Attila Adamfi, who is also the Continental co-ordinator for Oceania. Together with his IWF Technical Team they assisted in the smooth running of the competition. Oceania lifters training outdoors only a few meters away from the cometition hall. Dr Tamas Ajan receives a gift of appreciation at the Congress A special thanks must go to Bowen Stuart from the Australian Weightlifting Federation who did an outstanding job with the webcasting and also the technical set up. The eighteen countries attending the event, very much enjoyed the outdoor training venue. The weather was perfect and the atmosphere even better. The OWF wishes to thank all the officials who took part in the running of the championships. I cannot speak highly enough of Australia and their assistance towards the tournament. The Opening Ceremony was at the Cultural Theatre of the City of Mont Dore only 100 metres from the Institute. It was an enjoyable occasion lasting only one hour. Special thanks must go also to the Comite Territorial Olympique Sportif and the City of Mont Dore, for their enormous assistance which they provided to make sure that this event had a successful outcome. The Institute lifters assisted so much with the setting up of the championships. Here they enjoing washing carpets Dr,Tamas Ajan enjoing the company of Sir John Dawanincura, President PNGNOC and Lakani Oala.
OWF CONGRESS: The OWF Congress was held on the 27 th May. Apart from Dr. Tamas Ajan and Attila Adamfi who were in attendance, we had quite a number of National Olympic Committee Presidents and General Secretaries at the Congress. PNGNOC President Sir John Dawinincura, Nauru NOC President Hon. Marcus Stephen, New Caledonia NOC Presiden, Charles Cali, the NOC Secretary General of Marshall Islands Terry Sasser, the NOC General Secretary of Niue Alan Tano, the NOC Secretary General of Nauru Dominic Cain, the Vice President of the French Weightlifting Federation Jean-Marie Habiera were all in attendance The OWF General Secretary also nominated, as per the OWF constitution, the new Assistant Secretary in Trent Dabwido from Nauru - due to the resignation of Matthew Curtain. The General Secretary paid tribute to the outstanding service of Matthew for the many years of assisting the OWF in all facets of the sport. Matthew who now is the Director of Sports of the Commonwealth Games Federation is based in London. The CEO of the Pacific Games Council, Mr. Andrew Minogue, made a special trip to New Caledonia in order to address the congress, regarding the inclusion of the Oceania Championships in Port Moresby next year during the Pacific Games. Dr Tamas Ajan at the 2014 Oceania Weightlifting Congress held at the Oceania Institute. 18 countries attended. OWF EXECUTIVE BOARD: The OWF Executive Board held its meeting on the 26 th May. It was a very fruitful meeting discussing many areas of our sport in the region. It was attended by Dr. Tamas Ajan and Attila Adamfi. One important aspect which came from this meeting was the establishment of a Womens Advisory Committee to be headed by Lilly Coffa. This project has been in the pipeline for the past 12 months and it is now officially and unanimously endorsed by the OWF. The Executive Board also discussed the possible introduction of a Primary School program. SEMINARS: With the assistance of the IWF Development Program, seminars were held during the championships on technical, medical, anti-doping, education and cultural assimilation. Due to time constraints the coaching seminar needed to be postponed to a later date. Special thanks must go to Garry Marshall who did a splendid job in the technical, Dr. Moni Kami in the medical and anti-doping, Michael Keelan in the Education and Trent Dabwido in the cultural assimilation. Quite a few successful seminars held during the Championships which 18 countries attended.
COMMONWEALTH GAMES GLASGOW HERE WE COME... There is so much hype in the Oceania region, with regards to the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. There are high expectations of the Oceania lifters to win medals at these Games. With the exception of Vanuatu and Norfolk Island, all other Commonwealth countries in our region are sending weightlifters across. Weightlifting in our region has now become a powerhouse at Commonwealth level. A sport which gives recognition in particular to the Pacific Island nations. These are the lifters from the Oceania region who will be competing in Glasgow, Scotland. AUSTRALIA SAMOA NEW ZEALAND Vanara Be 62Kg Nevo Ioane 62Kg Lou Guinares 56Kg Francois Etoundi 77Kg Toafito Perive` 77Kg Ianne Guinares 62Kg Malek Chamoun 85Kg Siaosi Leuo 85Kg Mark Spooner 69Kg Simplice Ribouem 94Kg Petunu Opeloge 94Kg Cody Cole 69Kg Robert Galsworthy 105Kg Faavae Faauliuli 105Kg Mathew Madsen 77Kg Maxwell Dal Santo 105Kg Ttovia Opeloge 105kg Richard Patterson 85Kg Damon Kelly 105+Kg Lauititi Lui 105+Kg Saxon Gregory-Hunt 85Kg Chris Rae 105+Kg Sanele Mao 105+Kg Stanislav Chalaev 105Kg Tegan Napper 48Kg Vanessa Lui 69Kg Phillipa Hale 53Kg Erika Ropati-Frost 53Kg Mary Opeloge 75Kg Lauren Roberts 63Kg Socheata Be 53Kg Ele Opeloge 75+Kg Bailey Rogers 75Kg Seen Lee 58Kg Iuniarra Sipaia 75+Kg Tracey Lambrechs 75+Kg Kylie Lindbeck 75Kg Deborah Acason 75+Kg NAURU KIRIBATI Jenna Myers 75+Kg Elson Brechtefeld 62Kg Takenibeia Toromon 69Kg Chris Rangidimi 69Kg Taretiita Tabaroua 77Kg PAPUA NEW GUINEA Tom-Jaye Waibeiya 77Kg Taubena Tatonga 85Kg Fred Oala 56Kg Itte Detenamo 105+Kg David Katoatau 105Kg Morea Baru 62KG Tiaterenga Kaua 75Kg Toua Udia 77Kg FIJI NIUE Steven kari 94Kg Manueli Tulo 56Kg Jack Feleti 77Kg Dika Toua 53Kg Seruwaia Malani 48Kg Zeke Pullan 85Kg Sandra Ako 69Kg Julia Timi 63Kg Rexricco Melekitama 105Kg Guba Hale-Mea 69Kg Apolonoa Vaivai 75Kg Danny Nemani 105+Kg COOK ISLANDS Malia Vea 75Kg Luisa Peters 75+Kg Vitolia Tauasi 75+kg SOLOMON ISLANDS TUVALU TONGA Brown Ramohaka 62Kg Lapua Lapua 62Kg Penisimani Siolaa 69Kg David Gorosi 85Kg Logona Esau 77Kg Wilford Vea 105Kg Jenly Wini 58Kg Asenati Elika 69Kg Suliana Fate 75+Kg Hepline Iro 63Kg OCEANIA LIFTERS PREPARING FO GLASGOW The OWF with the assistance of the Continental Development Program of the IWF and the support of ONOC and the CTOS, held a training camp for most of the top lifters of the Oceania region, who are medal prospects at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. These lifters trained together as a combined unit, for the first time at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute, in Mont Dore, New Caledonia, during the second part of March. The OWF acknowledges and appreciates the co-operation of those regional national weightlifting federations whose lifters had been invited to this camp. Richard Patterson- New Zealand
NANJING, CHINA Many youth lifters of the region took part in the Olympic Youth Qualification event. It was great to see so many lifters competing who came from the OTIP program. Quite a few of the lifters below going to Nanjing, were discovered through the OTIP Program. In the team qualification at the Oceania s, the countries which qualified one lifter each for the Youth Olympic Games were: BOYS NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIA PAPUA NEW GUINEA FIJI GIRLS AUSTRALIA PAPUA NEW GUINEA FIJI The lifters from Oceania, selected by their respective countries, to compete in Nanjing are: : BOYS GIRLS New Zealand Cameron Mc Taggart 69Kg Australia Kiana Elliott 63Kg Australia Ayden McMahon 69Kg Papua New Guinea Bea Ovia 48Kg Papua New Guinea Igo Lohia 56Kg Fiji Ulina Sagone 53Kg Fiji Poama Qaqa 62Kg Kiribati Ruben Katoatau 56Kg Nauru Rayvon Dekarube 56Kg FSM Marcellus Toman 56Kg Tonga Chirk Manzo 62Kg FIJI BACK IN THE COMMONWEALTH It is great news for weightlifting, that Fiji is once again part of the Commonwealth where they rightly deserve to be. They are sending four lifters to the Commonwealth Games. PAPUA NEW GUINEA SPORTS AWARDS Papua New Guinea in May 2014 held its Sports Awards. The male Athlete of the Year went to weightlifter Steven Kari, the 94kg category Commonwealth Champion. The junior male athlete went to weightlifter Fred Oala and junior female athlete also went to a weightlifter in Miss Lorraine Harry. FIJI SPORTS AWARDS In the month of April at the Fiji Sport Awards, Joe Vueti national weightlifting coach - won the Coach of the Year. Whilst the female junior athlete went to weightlifter Ulina Sagone. MICRONESIA GAMES. The 8th Micronesian Games will be held in Pohnpei from July 19 to 29. It is anticipated that more than1,200 athletes from all of the Micronesian islands (the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Kiribati, Kosrae, Chuuk, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Yap and Palau will be competing in at thirteen sports, including: Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Outrigger Canoe Racing, Softball, Micronesia All-Around, Spearfishing, Swimming, Table Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Volleyball, Weightlifting, and Wrestling. The Weightlifting event will be run by Manuel Minginfel, General Secretary of FSM Weightlifting Federation and OWF Executive Board Member. Manuel also will be running a seminar on coaching and refereeing. Paul Coffa GENERAL SECRETARY
Luisa Peters Cook Islands Manuel Minginfel -FSM David Katoatau- Kiribati h Phillipa Hale- New Zealand Simplice Ribouem -Australia Itte Detenamo- Nauru Petelo Lagikula- New Caledonia Danny Nemani- Niue
Apolonia Vaivai- Fiji Stevick Patris- Palau Steven Kari- Papua New Guinea Mary Opeloge- Samoa Christopher Vea -Tonga Lomina Tibon- Marshall Islands Jenly Wini- Solomon Islands Rosery Orepa Talo- American Samoa Lapua Lapua - Tuvalu Mikaele Tuitavake- Wallis& Futuna Islands