An elated Nehemiah Elder became the recipient of the Vodafone Young Male Athlete of the Year Award at the Fiji Sports Awards, held last Saturday at the Vodafone Arena in Suva.
The 15-year-old weightlifter received his award with raucous applause as one of three Weightlifting Fiji athletes that received awards for their outstanding performances last year.
Elder’s victory on Saturday night was a recognition of his achievements such as his wins in the club, district and national weightlifting competitions held last year.
He also won the Oceania Weightlifting 73kg Youth title, setting new records in the snatch, clean and jerk categories.
Elder expressed his appreciation for his supporters and spiritual guidance for the win.
“I’d like to thank the Lord for giving me the talent and for giving me this award.”
“I would also like to thank my supporters, I’d like to thank family and everyone who has supported me on my journey,” he said.
He described the win as an incentive to work harder and hopefully retain the award in the next year.
“It actually is a lot, now I’m wanting to work even harder, if that makes sense and now I’m wanting to work even harder and I want to win it again next year, if I can.”
Elder already has his eyes set on the 2024 Commonwealth Championships, which will be held from September 17 to 24.
