PACIFIC GAMES
A very emotional Taniela Rainibogi managed to secure three gold medals at his first ever Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands in the Men’s 109kg Weightlifting event.
A very emotional Taniela Rainibogi managed to secure three gold medals at his first ever Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands in the Men’s 109kg Weightlifting event.
Taniela secured gold in the snatch event where he lifted 165 kilograms, 192kg in the clean and jerk, which brought his final weight to 357kg, winning the overall category.
The Olympic Solidarity (OS) Scholarship recipient said he was grateful to those that supported him in his journey so far but there was a bigger goal he hoped to achieve.
"I was first honoured to be chosen as Team Fiji Flag bearer and now just grateful to the support from the Fijian community here in the Solomon Islands which inspired me to try and go beyound my best," he said.
Taniela said it was also the support of his loved ones back in Fiji and the support of his wife which he used as motivating factors in his win.
"But this is just another opportunity to prepare myself for what is ultimately my dream and that is to represent Fiji at the Olympics," he said.
Taniela said he will take just a few days to recover before he returns to training for the 2023 IWF Grand Prix in Qatar next month.
