Fijian born Australian weightlifter Eileen Cikamatana has her focus set on the 2022 IWF World Championship in Bogota, Columbia. Cikamatana won Australia’s first weightlifting gold at the Birmingham Games with lifts in the 87kg category.
More significantly, she is now the first woman to win Commonwealth Games gold for two countries, having won the 90kg class on the Gold Coast for Fiji.
She was unable to compete at the Tokyo Olympics because she was still ineligible.
During the Commonwealth, Cikamatana set the Games record in the category with her snatch lift of 110kg.
She then took the overall lead with her first clean and jerk attempt at 129kg.
Her second lift of 137kg won the gold medal and also set the clean and jerk and overall Games record.
She capped her outstanding win with a third lift of 145kg, giving the Australian a total of 255kg.
The Levuka lass is gearing up for the Olympic qualifiers.
“My training is going well. I train twice a day from Monday to Friday, one session on Saturday and rest on Sunday to recuperate and do my laundry,” she said.
“I want to be the best that I can possibly be and to do that, I need to remain committed and focused every single day.
“Leading up to this championship, my expectation is to win.
“But you have the best in the world there and so as long as I remain focused on the task at hand, I should be a medallist.”
There are five qualifications that she needs to take part in- order for her to the 2023 Paris Olympics.
“There are no challenges, I just do what has to be done.
“My family has been there since the day I was born.
“They are my biggest supporters.
“Particularly since I left Fiji at the age of 14 to pursue my dreams. So my relationship with my family is close and private.
“If you want to compete in an international tournament, you must dream big and never give up.
She won the 90kg category at the 2017 Commonwealth Championships on the Gold Coast and a silver medal in the 69kg category at the 2016 Commonwealth Championships in Penang.
