The upcoming 2025 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in India is a gold medal qualifying event, giving Weightlifting Fiji athletes a direct chance to book their place at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
Winning gold at this competition means automatic qualification for the big games next year.
After an impressive showing at the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau that just ended recently, where Fiji won 15 medals and broke 13 records, the team is already hard at work preparing for the next challenge.
Head coach Henry Elder says they started training recently and are focusing on improving areas highlighted from their last competition.
“We are assessing our performances from the most recent competition, as we have always done and as coaches, we have pointed up a few areas. Both some of the coaches and some of the athletes have given me input,” he said.
The Commonwealth Championship includes events for men and women in Senior, Junior, and boys and girls in the Youth categories.
Elder says their goal is to get as many athletes as possible to win gold medals and secure qualification.
“The commonwealth championships that we have here is a gold qualifier meaning that anyone who wins their categories automatically qualifies as number one in their category for the Commonwealth Games,” he explained.
The final team for the event has not yet been decided, but Elder expects tough competition.
Fiji has a strong history at the Commonwealth Games, winning medals in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
“We have had a pretty good record at the commonwealth games, for the last three commonwealth games,” Elder said.
“While we love the Pacific Games, our focus is on the Commonwealth Games and beyond. We trust in our leadership and God to guide us.”
The Commonwealth Championship will be held from August 24-30 in Ahmendabad, India.
