After being very successful hosts of the 2016 Oceania Weightlifting Championship, Fiji is looking forward to host more international competitions especially in weightlifting.
The next event that could be hosted here is the World Youth Weightlifting Championships in the next three years.
weightlifting officials are confident Fiji has the resources and capabilities to host more international meets in weightlifting after a successful Oceania Champs.
“Discussions have been heard with the International Weightlifting President and his Committee members to bid for the World Junior Championships for 2019,” said Atma Maharaj – Fiji Weightlifting President.
It’s all part of the plan now and they will work towards making it happen.
“The bidding for the World Junior Champs will take place in 2017 so we have some time to be able to have proper dialogue with the Government and stakeholders,” he said.
Officials are adamant that if Fiji was to bid with the support of it’s stakeholders, we should get a positive outcome.
“If everybody is aligned and positive to proceed than Fiji will be looking towards putting the fact that a bid and the International Weightlifting Federation were in Suva and so pleased with the success of the Oceania Championships and the qualifying event,” he said.
And to make things easier for athletes Maharaj is confident they have the support of international federations to provide monetary assistance to rebuild the gym in Baba on Ovalau.
“We have also received advise from the International Olympic Committee and US Olympic Committee they’re also prepared to help out so hopefully with the joint support of the Government and the International agencies we will be able to help rebuild the High Performance centre and the team camp,” he mentioned.
Meanwhile, Apolonia Vaivai and Manueli Tulo’s participation at the Rio Olympics will be confirmed by July 11th.