The 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics was an experience! After arriving in Rio and being welcomed in to the village on the 30th July it all suddenly felt real. The village was huge, the food hall was massive and the training facilities were world class, as an athlete I really could not have asked for more.
The training days building up to the competition went well, thank goodness Weightlifting is an indoor sport because it was hot! Most days the heat got over 32 degrees with minimal humidity until the last couple of days.
I struggle to find words to describe the feelings I had when I stepped up onto the competition platform, if I am being completely honest, nerves took over for a few minutes. I was quite disappointed with my snatches on the day, I fought hard for my first snatch but unfortunately I lost it behind me. Relieved to get my 2nd lift meant I was still in the competition but had a lot of ground to make up. Clean and Jerk is my favourite movement of the two, the referees gave me a no lift on my first lift which was a bit of a surprise as it was so easy, again on my 2nd attempt I achieved the lift which gave me a placing in the competition. Sitting out back with my coach Adam, we decided we had nothing to lose and went for the 139kg clean and jerk, this would have been a New Zealand record and a personal best for myself. I managed to clean it but ran out of air and got the wobbles before I could jerk it. Overall I placed 13th, honestly I’m happy but also a little disappointed as I wanted to lift more, do better and make everyone proud!
After the competition I had a little bit of down time, we went to Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf mountain, USA vs Argentina Basketball quarterfinals and the Brazil vs Netherlands Beach Volley Ball quarter-finals. The facilities and atmosphere were just amazing!
Overall I am so happy and proud that I got to represent New Zealand at the Olympics! A massive thank you to everyone who has supported me, I don’t think words can ever express how much I appreciate the support, funding and encouragement.
So what now? Well I am back to training, getting ready for our nationals which will be held here at AUT Millennium in October after that I will continue training as I build my campaign for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. But until then back to work and back to training the Power Zone.
