WEIGHTLIFTING is not considered one of the more popular sports on island, but for years, local weightlifters have hauled in medals in regional competitions, including last year’s Pacific Mini Games during which the local weightlifters won 11 of the NMI’s 38 total medals.
For CNMI Weightlifting President John Davis, it is the most technical sport. “It’s like you train for hours and hours a day, but your time on the platform is measured in seconds or even nanoseconds for the actual lift. So, this is a really, really a technically hard sport.”
And yet, he added, the local organization and its athletes still do not get enough recognition.
“These guys don’t get enough credit. Our athletes won most of the medals…in the last Micronesian Games…and in the Mini Games. But we are still scraping together…we’re still waiting [for] respect,” Davis added.
On Saturday, CNMI Weightlifting hosted a qualifier tournament which was the first local weightlifting competition held since the Mini Games in June 2022.
Before 2017, when CNMI Weightlifting got back into the International Weightlifting Federation, the local organization had been suffering setbacks.
“But since then, this organization has just been going forward trying to get things done,” Davis said, adding that they are looking forward to more competitions, including another qualifier that will be held in March as well as more opportunities to compete on Guam which will hold weightlifting championships in February.
Like Davis, local weightlifter and gold medalist Angel San Nicolas believes that they don’t get enough credit for their contributions. “Even after all that medal haul in the Mini Games, I feel like we are still undermined,” he said. “But it’s OK. Slowly but surely, eventually, the sport itself will get the respect it deserves in our community.”
Ray Santos makes a successful lift in the clean & jerk portion of the CNMI Weightlifting qualifier event Saturday at the Ada gym.
Emmanuel Aquino prepares for his lift during the CNMI Weightlifting qualifier event Saturday at the Ada gym.
