Final lift for Olympic Games hopeful

TEAM Fiji weightlifter and Pacific Games triple gold medallist Taniela Rainibogi has one more qualifying event to determine his fate in the 2024 Olympic Games in France.

Rainibogi will be competing for his final attempt in Phuket, Thailand from March 30 to April 12.

Weightlifting Fiji president Della Shaw-Elder, who will also be in Paris as a technical official, said this qualifying event was important as it would be his last chance to vie for qualification.

“This is a very crucial one, but he is training very hard. We gave him a one week break since he returned from New Zealand but, that did not mean that he rested, he did every other thing apart from weightlifting,” Shaw-Elder said.

The IOC scholarship holder missed out on qualification last month, settling for a silver medal in the 102kg category during the Oceania Weightlifting Championships in Auckland, New Zealand.

“The good thing about New Zealand was that he has increased his total by 10 kilos so, he has been doing very well in each qualification.

“Coming back into training, he had a bit of injury that has been looked at by our physiotherapist, so he has been training well.

“I think right now we do not want to put pressure on him, but we are always stressing consistency. Improvements is what counts so, we are definitely showcasing numbers, but we want to see that we are consistent in improving and that’s what we’ve seen in every competition.”

She said Rainibogi had done his own self assessment and was confident in every competition he entered.

This is a very crucial one, but he is training very hard. We gave him a one week break since he returned from NZ ...... Della Shaw-Elder