Different weight class, different country, but same result
DIFFERENT weight class, different country she’s representing.
But it was the same result for Eileen Cikamatana, who showed her incredible strength by setting a new Commonwealth Games record as she claimed gold for Australia in the women’s 87kg weightlifting.
The 22-year-old won the 87kg gold medal competing for Fiji four years ago on the Gold Coast.
But after a huge dispute in Fijian weightlifting, Cikamatana - who grew up helping her dad haul pig feed and 50kg gas cylinders before moving to New Caledonia to further her career transferred her allegiance to Australia in 2019. She was unable to represent her new country at the Tokyo Olympics, but showed she will be one to watch at Paris with an impressive performance in Birmingham.
Cikamatana set a Commonwealth Games record of 255kg across her lifts.
She was never challenged, going straight into the gold medal position with her Games record 110kg lift in the snatch and her Games record 145kg effort in the clean and jerk.
It made up for the disappointment of failing to make a total at the world championships last December, when she was favourite to become Australia’s first woman world champion.
“At the world championships I was injured and it didn’t go well in training (for that competition),” Cikamatana said.
“Today’s emotion was completely different because I had a once-in-alifetime opportunity to win for Australia, and it came true.”
She destroyed her opponents, with Canada’s Kristel Ngarlem claiming silver with a total of 236kg and Nigeria’s Mary Osijo earning bronze with a total of 225kg.