OVER the weekend, four GetFit CNMI weightlifters hauled a total of 20 medals — 9 gold, 8 silver, and 3 bronze — at the 2024 Guam Weightlifting Federation Youth, Junior & Senior Championships held at the Guam National Guard Readiness Center.
The weightlifters were Aiden Gimed, Jaden Andrew, and Lucio Eugenio.
Gimed won three gold and two silver medals.
He acquired his first two medals in the Sinclair category. Recording a snatch of 100kg and a clean & jerk of 125kg for a total weight of 225 kg, as well as a Sinclair of 288.504, the 14-year-old claimed gold in the Youth Men’s 81kg while earning a silver in the Open Men’s 88kg.
He notched two more gold medals as the youth division overall leader in the snatch and clean & jerk while earning a silver medal in Sinclair.
Coach and mentor Angel San Nicolas noted that Gimed added 15kg to his total from his last performance in New Zealand.
“He was the only youth/junior to snatch 100kg/220lbs at the [Guam] event. He power-cleaned 120kg/265lbs to demonstrate just how strong he is. There’s room for more next year,” San Nicolas said.
This was Gimed’s second time competing in Guam.
For Gimed, his winnings show that “setting aside a lot of things I wanted to do with friends and family to train has paid off. Professionally, I’m a step closer to the goals that my coach and I have set [which includes] competing on bigger platforms in the future.”
He added, “I am happy with my results; however, there is always room for improvement, and I intend to continue to build my numbers.”
Putting on another stellar performance was Jaden Andrew who bagged two gold, three silver, and two bronze medals.
He lifted a snatch of 90kg and a clean & jerk of 118kg for a total weight of 208kg, and a Sinclair of 284.811 to take gold in the Junior Men’s 73kg and Open Men’s 71kg along with a silver in the Youth Men’s 81kg.
In the youth division, he earned a bronze in the Sinclair and a silver in the clean & jerk. In the junior division, he bagged a bronze in the Sinclair and a silver in the clean & jerk.
“My mindset was just to beat what I had lifted in my last competition in Majuro. The numbers I wanted to beat were 80kg snatch and 110kg clean and jerk,” Andrew said.
“This competition meant a lot to me,” he added. “Although it was a small competition, I still got to put my training to the test. Professionally, this competition showed me how far my numbers are from my competitors in Oceania, and that makes me want to work harder.”
San Nicolas said Andrew “had the perfect meet…. He hit [personal records or] PRs across the board. [After] his lackluster performance at Majuro, we had to show that he’s way better than that. Jaden improved 18kg in total from 190kg in Majuro to 208kg in Guam. How you train matters, and I’ve worked closely with professionals to tailor his programming, and it showed in his performance.”
San Nicolas added, “He PR’d on his snatch with 90kg. He PR’d his Clean & Jerk twice with 115kg then 118kg. He’s 7kg away from the New Youth Oceania Record Standard which is 125kg in the 71kg weight category.”
Adding to GetFit CNMI’s medal haul was Lucio Eugenio with two gold and three silver medals.
Although Eugenio did not have any successful lifts in the clean & jerk, his snatch of 93kg was enough to secure two gold medals in the Youth Men’s 96+kg and Junior Men’s 102kg as well as a silver in the Open Men’s 110kg.
He collected two more silver medals for his snatch in the youth division and junior division.
“My overall performance was not my best,” Eugenio said. “However, I take it as a learning experience and an opportunity to become a better lifter. Thank you to everyone that helped get me to this point.”
San Nicolas also competed, earning three medals — two gold and one bronze.
He lifted a snatch of 125kg and a clean & jerk of 150kg for a total weight of 275kg and a Sinclair of 310.734 to earn gold in the Open Men’s 110kg.
He notched another gold in the open division snatch and a bronze in the clean & jerk.
San Nicolas said the “competition was tough…. Simultaneously coaching and competing at the same time was hard. Constantly watching the board, watching my athletes, and being mindful of my warmup. It’s a lot. I also had some doubts, just because there was a lot of pressure on our group to do well.”
He added, “Every year is different. I can say there was a moment where I was pushed [to do better] by Palau’s Olympian. Although we’re in different categories, we competed in the same session closing out the show. I out-snatched him, he beat me in the clean & jerk. It was nice. I like that kind of pressure.”
Team GetFit CNMI recognizes and thanks the following sponsors: Pepoy’s Restaurant, Armatech, Saipan Vegas, Turnkey Solutions, the offices of Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez, Rep. Thomas John Manglona, Rep. Manny Castro, and Rep. BJ Attao.
GetFit CNMI’s Lucio Eugenio successfully lifts a snatch during the 2024 Guam Weightlifting Federation Youth, Junior & Senior Championships at the Guam National Guard Readiness Center on Saturday.
GetFit CNMI’s Aiden Gimed poses with the medals he won at the 2024 Guam Weightlifting Federation Youth, Junior & Senior Championships at the Guam National Guard Readiness Center on Saturday.
GetFit CNMI’s Jaden Andrew scores a snatch lift during the 2024 Guam Weightlifting Federation Youth, Junior & Senior Championships at the Guam National Guard Readiness Center on Saturday.
