The Samoa Weightlifting Association have landed in Melbourne Australia and are ready to participate in the Pacific Elite International Weightlifting Competition taking place on 25 March.

The national coach for Samoa Weightlifting Association, Tuaopepe Jerry Wallwork said the management are that the team remains in perfect condition to compete in the event.

“We are currently in Melbourne and have gone through our second training session since our arrival yesterday. We have been training at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute which is under legendary coach Paul Coffa,” he said.

Mr Coffa has been often referred to as “the father figure of weightlifting in the Pacific region” and he is the first coach to join the Olympic Hall of Fame.

He is also one of the founders of the Oceania Weightlifting Institute, which moved around the region and hosted athletes from many Pacific islands.

“Our team is training well and very focused on the tournament this Saturday. We are here to perform well and use the training camp and competition as part of our build up campaign for qualification for Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” said Tuaopepe.

Samoa is using the Melbourne event to gauge the lifters and build towards the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands at the end of this year and the Olympic Games in Paris next year.

Tuaopepe has always believed that Samoa can get an Olympic medal in weightlifting and believes that a record number of Samoan lifters will make it to the Olympic Games in Paris.

The Samoa squad is a strong one and led by Don Opeloge. There will be strong competition and the team has been preparing for the vent for some time.

Squads from Fiji, Kiribati and Tuvalu have also been training in Samoa and all of them are competing in Melbourne.