An uplifting story
David Liti really shouldn’t be at the Commonwealth Games, let alone winning weightlifting gold. That’s not to say he hasn’t pushed himself to the limit of his physical capabilities and endured countless hours of rigorous training on his way to winning the gold medal in the 105kg+ division with a combined total of 403kg on Monday – a Commonwealth Games record.
It’s just that there are so many points along his journey to the Gold Coast where weightlifting could have fallen by the wayside.
It starts with his introduction to New Zealand.
The 21-year-old was born in Auckland, but moved back to Tonga to live until 2006, when his family returned to Auckland.
‘‘When we first moved we stayed in my aunty’s garage. It was the middle of winter, so when we got there I was like ‘holy, how do people live here? It’s freezing, coming from like 30 degrees average to 10 degrees and I was like ‘wow’.’’
‘‘We moved around in that first year, like six or seven times in different houses. We just couldn’t find the right one.
‘‘Finally, in 2007, we found a house that was stable enough for us and we were there for 10 years.’’
He wouldn’t know it at that stage, but the initial year of moves would be crucial for his weightlifting career.
The family would eventually settle near One Tree Hill College, down the road from where weightlifting coach Tina Ball was running a community programme for students of the college.
Ball said Liti first came in as a teenager because that’s what ‘‘the boys’’ were doing. It was an inauspicious start.
‘‘He didn’t like it and he used to come really randomly. You know, ‘sorry miss I’m tired’, then he’d disappear to play rugby for a while, then he went home to Tonga once and I didn’t see him for three months.
‘‘So the early days were very spasmodic and he used to have quite bad knees, he couldn’t squat under the bar. It took time for him to grow to love the sport, and then time for him to learn how to train.’’
That was another big turning point in his journey. He could have chucked it all in at that point and waited for his knees to recover so he could resume his rugby career, which included being in Auckland age-group teams with Rieko Ioane.
Instead, he started to really thrive at lifting, buoyed by his first appearances at national and international competitions, Ball said.
‘‘It really turned when we took him to the New Zealand nationals in Christchurch [in 2013] and that got him to New Caledonia for the Oceanias [in 2014]. It was then he got a taste for what it is to represent New Zealand on the international stage and what that feels like and how good he is.’’
His progression has been startling since then, unlike any other weightlifter Ball has seen.
That resulted in gold on Monday, but his future looks even brighter with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics looming on the horizon.
Outside of weightlifting, Liti was a gentle giant, who Ball said loved to play tricks on her.
‘‘He’s very family-orientated. Family means the world to him, he’s fun-loving. He always likes to have a joke and mock you and play tricks on you and give you frights.
‘‘He’s always giving me frights – he hides,’’ she said with a laugh that nodded towards the unlikeliness of this scenario given Liti’s 165kg frame.
The only downside for Liti was he was unable to share the joy with his mum, Luisa, and dad, Kelisimi, who moved back to Tonga in 2012 to continue with their business importing and exporting fruit, with Liti living with his older siblings.
The last time he saw them in person was at his 21st birthday party last July, but he was planning to get back there for a week soon.
But in the modern day, family is never more than a phone screen away and he had been able to get in touch with his mum.
‘‘She called me and just started crying,’’ he said with broad smile.
‘‘She was just saying ‘I’m very proud of you, I love you my big boy’.’’
‘‘It took time for him to grow to love the sport, and then time for him to learn how to train.’’
Weightlifting coach Tina Ball on David Liti