Big Bear’s golden choice a success
Little-known Auckland weightlifter David Liti shot to prominence after a stellar display at the Commonwealth Games on Monday.
Not only did the 21-year-old win gold in the 105kg+ division, but his combined total of 403kg was a Commonwealth Games record.
Here are some fast facts about New Zealand’s rising weightlifting talent.
RUGBY BACKGROUND:
Liti was an Auckland age-group team-mate of All Blacks star Rieko Ioane, who is the same age as him. He swapped the front row to concentrate on weightlifting after some sage advice from his lifting coach.
‘‘Do you really just want to be a number on the field or a worldclass weightlifter?’’ he told TVNZ in a pre-Commonwealth Games interview.
‘‘That kind of opened my eyes.’’
NICKNAME:
Liti is appropriately dubbed ‘Big Bear’ and has a calm demeanour away from weightlifting. ‘‘I am not an aggressive person. I go with the flow, I don’t want to disturb the peace or anything like that,’’ he said after his gold medal win.
HEAVIEST ATHLETE AT COMMONWEALTH GAMES:
Tipping the scales at 168kg, Liti is understood to be the heaviest athlete competing at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. He dwarfs Kiwi shot put star Tom Walsh (120kg) and Tall Blacks big man Alex Pledger (113kg).
TONGAN LINKS:
Liti was born in New Zealand, but spent the first 10 years of his life in Tonga, before moving back to Auckland. He attended Auckland’s One Tree Hill College. The school have produced other notable sportsmen, including Paea Wolfgramm (boxing) Iafeta Paleaaesina (rugby league) and Brad Butterworth (yachting).
TOUGH JOURNEY:
Liti is the second youngest of 11 siblings and admits life hasn’t always been easy for him. ‘‘My mum used to give me five dollars a day, so that was like two dollars and twenty for the bus fare and then you get two dollars eight for whatever you’re gonna buy, that buys you nothing,’’ he said in a prior interview.
‘‘So I used to always eat bad, once a day – sometimes not even, don’t even eat some days.’’
TAKING UP WEIGHTLIFTING:
He discovered weightlifting at One Tree Hill College, being introduced by coach Tina Ball, who remains his mentor. Initially, he battled in the sport.
‘‘I’m still young, still got a lot to learn, this sport’s exciting, when I first started I didn’t really like it, I thought it was boring,’’ he said.
‘‘There’s lots of sitting down, so I kind of like it now.’’
WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Liti competed at his first world weightlifting championships in Anaheim, California, in December 2017 and performed admirably finishing 14th.