Powerlifting Uses Social Media

Team Fiji Powerlifting hopes to take advantage of social media to increase its potential athlete pool, create more awareness of the sport and attract potential sponsors for the future.

Team Fiji Powerlifting Section Manager Viliame Lagonilakeba said there has been a lot of interest from the general public for the sport since the National Federation’s resurgence over the years.

"There are a lot of young people becoming involved in the sport and we would like to keep encouraging this.

"We have a handful of women that have been coming to participate, but I think there needs to be more emphasis towards women's participation in this sport," he said.

"We have also noticed a lot traction and support from social media and hope to develop this platform to create more awareness and hopefully attract major sponsors in the future."

Viliame said as further development, the National Federation also hopes to expose their athletes to overseas competitions.

He said for this to happen, they would need financial backing and there were plans to approach certain private entities for this.

"This was a concern raised by a senior athlete of ours, Gardiner Whiteside, who sponsored his own trip to compete in the Hong Kong Championships, where he won several medals," he said.

Team Fiji Powerlifting completed its final trials for the 2023 Pacific Games last weekend and has selected a five member squad.

"The trial was great and we had some very intense but healthy rivalry amongst the 44 athletes that turned up" he said.

"We hope to take athletes with the potential to win medals which is why we have selected five experienced athletes and no female athletes."

Viliame said their female athletes are young and new to the sport and they would like them to gain more experience before competing at the Pacific Games level.

"We also have had to cut down on our squad numbers as a few of our core members have very demanding work occupations and have pulled out from contention," he said.

Viliame said the National Federation is looking at all its chosen athletes to medal at the Pacific Games.

In terms of challenges, Team Fiji Powerlifting has mainly financial constraints for the athlete to meet their own levy payment.

"Athletes have been positive about clearing their pending levy fees this week while other challenges our athletes face have been injuries and athletes having overlapping work commitments to their training schedules.

"We have been working to create a programme suited to the athletes needs and availability for training and have focused a lot on recovery due to the intense nature of the sport and training," Viliame said.

The Powerlifting sport is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift.

It has been contested in the Pacific Games since 1995 and has been staged 6 times up the present 2023 Games.

PIC credit: Powerlifting Fiji.  Participants at the final trials held late August, 2023.

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