Oceania Weightlifting Institute

Oceania Weightlifting Institute on the move

Paul Coffa established the regional centre in Fiji in 2002 before moving it to Samoa and eventually to New Caledonia, where he has trained Pacific, Oceania and Commonwealth champions for the past 12 years.

The veteran coach was working with 14 lifters in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics before the coronavirus brought everything to a sudden halt.

"In January and February of this year it all started and by April every country wanted their athletes and their citizens back home and that was the end of the institute, we had to close it," he said.

Toua in training camp

PNG’s pocket dynamo is undergoing a training camp to fine-tune her preparations for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

42 Vanuatu Pacific Mini Games gold medallists are in a special training camp at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in Mont Dore, New Caledonia, in preparation for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast from the 4th to 16th April. 

The 20 institute lifters plus the top lifters of Samoa, Fiji and New Zealand will be training together for a 10-day period.