Weightlifting Fiji’s latest talent, Adi Wini Mekula, is a frontrunner to qualify for July’s Pacific Games in Samoa after turning heads with her explosive and powerful lifts.

Mekula, 16, an intermediate grade Adi Cakobau School sprinter, has impressed her coaches despite only taking up the sport in February and doesn’t plan to stop there.

The Lutu (Wainimala), Naitasiri native competes in the 59 kg category and says she is determined to represent Fiji on the big stage.

She thanked her coaches and parents for having faith in her abilities.

“I am really enjoying weightlifting since I started and I want to work hard to be better in the sport,” she said.

Mekula’s coach, Henry Elder, believes she has the potential to win a Commonwealth Games medal in four years time provided she gets the right chance.

“She has huge talent but the best thing about her is how easy she is to coach. I wish we had more athletes like her,” he said.

Elder said Mekula’s humility, obedience and dedication were standout attributes that would take her a long way. Mekula is a product of Weightlifting Fiji’s four-year outreach plan that includes scouting for new talent in the most remote places in Fiji.

The body is looking to rebuild following the departure of some of its top athletes, including 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Eileen Cikamatana, over the appointment of Iranian coach Hossein Tavakoli.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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