(Northern Marianas Sports Association) — Here’s some trivia: NMI weightlifters have reached the medal podium in their last five regional events, starting from 2014.
In the Micronesian Games in 2014 in Pohnpei, the NMI Weightlifting Team collected 3 gold medals, 6 silvers, and 3 bronzes. In 2018, when Yap hosted the Micro Games, NMI weightlifters had a 6-7-2 medal tally, and in last year’s event in the Marshall Islands, they got 3 golds, 5 silvers, and 4 bronzes. In 2022, when the NMI hosted the Pacific Mini Games, the home squad had an outstanding 11-9-3 medal haul to top the 15-country field, while in the 2023 Pacific Games in Solomon Islands, the NMI bagged 1 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze.
Proud of the streak, NMI Weightlifting Team athlete-coach Antonette Labausa said they will use this run as a motivation to deliver medals for Team Marianas when they compete in the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau next month.
“There’s definitely some pressure knowing that we have done very well in competitions since 2014. However, we will take the streak as a motivation to come out and show our best performance in Palau and win some medals,” said Labausa, who is competing in the women’s 77kg class.
Joining Labausa on the squad are Devine Pua (women’s 63kg), Riella Ichiuo (women’s 77kg), Angel San Nicolas (men’s 94kg), Jaden Andrew (men’s 71kg), Jason Limes (men’s 110+kg), Joey Colisao Limes (men’s 110+kg), and Leowell Cristobal (men’s 65kg). Majority of the members of the team have competed for the NMI in the past years and are doing well in their training sessions.
“Going into the last stages of our preparations for the Mini Games, the focus now is more on the intensity of our training, lifting heavier, but bringing down the frequency of our practice sessions,” Labausa said.
The weightlifting event in Palau will run from July 1 to 5 at the newly constructed Meyuns Sports Complex and Labausa expects that the level of the competition is much higher this time compared to the last Games in Solomons and NMI.
“Looking at the starting list for weightlifting, I would say the level of competition is increasing, so it’s always a challenge for us. Our approach is to focus on ourselves and get better as the competition nears, work on our nutrition and rest time as well to be in top shape when we reach Palau,” the veteran athlete added.
For the weightlifting event, the NMI will be competing against host Palau, Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, and Vanuatu.
The NMI Weightlifting Team and the rest of Team Marianas’ participation to the 2025 Pacific Mini Games is supported by the Office of the Governor, the Saipan & Northern Islands Legislative Delegation, Joeten Daidai Foundation, ASC Trust, Triple J, Tan Holdings, Altanx, Quality Distributors, IT&E, Mobil, McDonald’s, Chinese Association on Saipan, GPPC, Marianas Press, Matson, LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort, Dial-Rent-To-Own, NMI Local Peace Corps Reunion Committee, Y.K. Corporation, Shell/AFE Marianas, LLC, Wushin, I Love Saipan, BC Corporation, Zoom Chicken, and Artman.
