Local Focus: Gisborne weightlifter finds strength at home

Ten years ago Kitini Taihuka took up CrossFit where his love of the sport’s lifting components quickly drew him to what he loves the most - weightlifting.

Now aged 20, Taihuka lives on the Sunshine Coast with his partner Tiana and two children.

“I recently came back from Australia, for a competition in Napier, the North Island champs,” he said.

“It’s just good to be back with the crew. Training by myself gets me a bit mentally, so being back home is a bit of a mental refresh.”

Taihuka took first place at the North Island Championships in the juniors and senior 109kg categories, lifting a 129kg snatch, and 169kg clean and jerk for a 298kg total.

During a competition, athletes have six attempts to lift their heaviest possible weights - three lifts in the snatch and three in the clean and jerk.

Taihuka is coached by Tina Ball, who is the founder and director of Strength HQ, president of Olympic Weightlifting Auckland and current New Zealand Commonwealth Olympic weightlifting coach.

“She’s just the best, she’s always in our corner. She pushes you in every way, mentally and physically, but she also helps you physically and mentally,” Taihuka said.

Ball is the only female coach in the Oceania region to have coached a male Commonwealth Games gold medallist, David Liti in 2018.

She met Taihuka after he qualified for the Oceania Championships in 2018 at his first-ever weightlifting competition.

Taihuka broke four Oceania records at his first international competition and was named New Zealand’s top male under-15 weightlifter.

He currently holds New Zealand youth records in snatch, clean and jerk, and total.

Ball sees a tonne of potential in Kitini but also knows all about the struggles of pursuing a career in weightlifting.

“I see Kitini with the potential and the ability to go a long way, like a lot of athletes. It’s the factors around them that make it even more challenging.

“So for instance, he’s got a young family. A lot of lifters have to work. There’s no funding in our sport, and you have to fundraise on top of it,” she said.

Taihuka’s whānau in Gisborne fundraised for him to return to New Zealand for the North Island championships.

Kitini will head to Samoa for the Oceania Junior, Youth and U23 Championships in October with two other Strength HQ athletes.

He then returns to New Zealand with Ball to compete at the New Zealand nationals the following week in Hamilton.

“From what I know of weightlifting he’s got the goods to get there. It’s overcoming all of these other little roadblocks along the way that will be the most challenging,” said Ball.

Public Interest Journalism Fund