Weightlifting: Harrowing lift is Ngalu's greatest

Sporting courage comes in different forms - individual bravery in the pursuit of solo glory, or a supreme collective will to achieve a team goal.

Then there's sheer guts of the sort displayed by weightlifter Tevita Ngalu at the Oceania championships.

Weightlifting is essentially a solitary pursuit, yet what Ngalu did at the weekend transcended that. A 39-year-old in the 105kg and over class, Ngalu put himself through excruciating pain knowing there was no tangible reward for himself in Apia.

Why? To help teammate Richard Patterson win New Zealand's only nomination for the London Olympics.

Patterson is awaiting confirmation from the New Zealand Olympic Committee. He should get the tick in the coming days for his second Games, and when he steps out at the ExCel Arena on August 3, he will offer a silent thanks to a man who was making his New Zealand debut.

The champs were the last chance to secure spots at London for the Oceania nations.

The format had teams choose six male and four female lifters to accrue points. Get enough points and a nation's top-ranked lifter would get a Games nomination.

New Zealand coach Adam Storey was at the meeting on Monday in Samoa putting in his selections. His chosen six men included Ngalu, who had competed at the Sydney Olympics 12 years ago for Tonga. Unknown to him, at the same time Ngalu was tearing his left quad muscle at training.

The die had been cast; no change of names was possible. Ngalu slept with ice packed around his leg. He was, he reckoned, feeling "about 40 per cent".

"But in my heart I never stopped thinking about my team," he said yesterday.

When Ngalu's time came, New Zealand - and Patterson - needed Ngalu's points. Patterson had won his 85kg division, and would go on to be named the best lifter in the Commonwealth.

Injuries to key Samoan and Nauru lifters helped New Zealand's situation. But even so, without Ngalu making his lifts New Zealand would not have an Olympic presence.

Basically on one leg, Ngalu managed a 123kg snatch, but inflicted further painful ripping to the muscle.

"I was sure I only had one attempt at the clean and jerk," quietly spoken Ngalu said. "I needed to ignore my pain."

He failed at his first attempt.

"The Oceania doctor told me to stop. My coaches asked what I felt.

"They didn't think I was going out again. So I got out to the platform earlier. My team was out there [in the stands]. I was standing there trying to calm down.

"And I did it. 157kg."

There would be no third attempt - "I had nothing left to give."

But it was enough. Ngalu finished fourth, just short of a cherished medal, but the pride is there when he tells of what his achievement meant. Asked by the New Zealand coaches why he put himself through the pain and risked worsening the injury, Ngalu's response was simple.

"I explained, 'It's just hurt. I'm not going to die. It's just sport.' I was supporting someone to get him a chance to go to the Olympics.

"After I missed my first attempt on the clean and jerk I was thinking, 'I don't want to let my team down on my first time.' That's why there was pressure on me."

The emotion was still raw in Storey's voice yesterday as he recounted the moment Ngalu completed his final lift.

"The whole stadium was gobsmacked. It was one of the most memorable moments I've seen. Awe inspiring."

Patterson admitted he didn't know what to say to Ngalu. He had been there when the injury happened. What followed five days later left him stunned.

"When he did it I was astounded. You can go and say thank you but you feel it's not enough," Patterson said. He had crunched the numbers and knew without Ngalu there would be no London.

New Zealand's strong team effort won the men's title, while the women's bid to get their top hope Tracey Lambrechs to London fell an agonising five points short. New Zealand set 18 national records in Apia, and won 10 Commonwealth and 17 Oceania medals.

But it was a title they didn't win by a lifter with the big heart and resolve to do right by a teammate which will live longest for those who saw it.