Oceania Weightlifting Championships 2010 - Fiji

The Trip to Suva - 4th Day OWC 2010 Update @ Fiji

Bula Vinaka Everyone

Been good day of lifting so far on the last day of the 2010 Oceania Weightlifting Championships. Solid performances from all the Youth and Junior fellas. Excellent battle between Richie Patterson and Simplice Ribouem, with Simplice coming away with the spoils and a comfortable win.

Now back to what I jumped online about, have some footage and photos of the team on the first day travelling from Nadi to Suva.

Enjoy!

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We Have Videos - 3rd Day OWC 2010 Update @ Fiji

Bula Vinaka Everyone

Quick recap for today thus far. In the first session this morning Australia had five girls, Vivian Lee, Kara Stuart, Courtenay Chisholm in the 48kg class, and Kirsten Wu and Sophie Cowen in the 53kg class. All the girls worked hard and came home with spoils of gold, silver and bronze. Kara Stuart didn't have her best day at the office finishing with 35kg in the snatch due to a few nerves early on, and had to be satisfied with 45kg in the clean and jerk after her jerks failed her on 50kg and 54kg.

Great news, we now have some video of the Oceania Weightlifting Championships online.

Jake Ratcliffe
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Kara Stuart
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Stay tuned for more news from Fiji.

Ratcliffe Debuts in Style - 2nd Day OWC 2010 Update @ Fiji

Bula Vinaka Everyone

The Oceania Weightlifting Championships are now open for 2010, last night the Australian Team was present at the opening ceremony to welcome in the 2010 OWC. The opening ceremony opened with a few words from the President of Fiji, the President of Weightlifting Fiji, and the Vice President of the International Weightlifting Federation some local culture.

Overall we had a solid day of lifting from the Australians, includinga good battle between Jack Rau and Liam Larkin fighting for a spot at the Youth Olympic later in the year. Local lad Jake Ratcliffe had a blinder on debut completing all 6 lifts successfully. Jake finished the day with a 75kg snatch and a 96kg clean and jerk, and a 8kg pb in the total. Ben Turner followed in the session after and looked strong, but couldn't quiet get all the lifts he was chasing finishing with a 129kg snatch and a 160kg clean and jerk. Other lifters had strong lifts including Wen, Munns, Be, Katz, Etoundi and Koum. Unfortunately Steve McConnell was unsuccessful in the snatch section.

Tomorrow, the girls begin their campaign for the Championships including local lass Kara Stuart as she debuts for Australia. Stuart will begin her session at 8 am AEST stay tuned for how she goes tomorrow 6th of May.

Ne Sa Bula Vinaka Toowoomba - 1st OWC 2010 Update @ Fiji

Bula Bula Everyone

The Australian Team for the Oceania Weightlifting Championships 2010 have made it to Fiji and have set up camp at the Tanoa Plaza Hotel in Suva.

We had a comfortable flight from Brisbane on Monday morning which got us into Nadi around 3:00pm Fiji time. We then jumped on a bus with the PNG Weightlifting team and headed to the local supermarket where I think the highlight for me was Damo having four 'nutty' bananas for lunch. Once we were all fed we jumped back on the bus headed for Suva. Early on the leg we were kept enetertained by the PNG music that they had on a USB boombox, we had tailgating, cows on the road, over taking on the bends, it was all good. There was also a bit of Team bonding, especially for anyone that fell asleep around Ben and Damo. But after 5 hours, alot of it in the dark, due to Fiji being 2 hours ahead of Australia we made it to the Tanoa Plaza Hotel in Suva. After a quick team meeting we hit the restaurant, had a feed, watched some rugby and then hit the sack.

This morning two of the coaches didnt make it to breakfast or the team meeting, because neither of them set their alarms, won't name names but it wasn't Greg. At 915 we all jumped on the bus for a last minute training session for lifters wanting a bit of a loosener. Both Kara Stuart and Jake (a.k.a Jack) Ratcliffe took the opportunity to throw a few weights about before Jake lifts on Wednesday and Kara on Thursday. We then dropped into the Venue where we'll be competing and had a bit of a look around, should be a good atmosphere packed. After a quick freshen up at the hotel, we ventured down to downtown Suva, so the team could get a feel for the place and have a bit of a wander about.

Later on this afternoon we'll be heading down to the opening ceremony for the Championships, so hopefuly we'll have a few more photos to show for then.