The Palau weightlifting team says its focus at the IBFC Universal Cup in Samoa is long-term development, with coach Stevick Patris using the competition to build future Olympic athletes.

Patris said two of his athletes, Ngirur and  Blaine, have been training in the Samoa camp since February and are showing strong progress ahead of upcoming international events.

“They’ve been improving a lot, about seven kilos up, preparing for the Oceania Games,” he said. “I really want to see how far they’ve come.”

However, Patris said two other lifters, Gyro and Micah, arrived only last week and are still adjusting to the training conditions in Samoa.

“For them, I’m not expecting much yet. They are new. Just doing their best and learning,” he said.

The team is using the Samoa camp to train multiple times a day, which Patris said is a major change from home training routines.

“Here we train morning, afternoon, and night. At home, it’s once a day and then back to work or school. It’s a big difference,” he said.

Palau is competing with four youth athletes at the event, one female and three male lifters. They include Micah Sumor, 16, Gyro Ramirez, 17, Ngirur Mad, 19, and Blaine Patris, 21.

Patris said the camp is also part of a wider plan to develop Blaine Patris toward a possible Olympic pathway for Los Angeles 2028.

“This is a step for him to improve and build toward the Olympics,” he said.

He said the program started small in Palau, where weightlifting was not widely known, but has grown steadily as more young athletes joined.

“At first, it was hard. Now they are improving and representing Palau at a higher level,” he said.