David Gorosi will take away some fantastic lessons from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, after an impressive performance in the Group B Men’s 85kg Weightlifting.
He was the only competitor in the whole group who was awarded a ‘Good Lift’ for all of his lifts, and beat his personal best in the Snatch, lifting 125kg despite an injury: “I feel great actually. I wasn’t feeling 100% when I was in the arena because I had torn my cervical muscle on the left hand side.” His coach, Lesley Ada, gave him the encouragement needed, as David explains: “My coach believed in me and came back and said, you are strong and I believe in you, you can do it so I told myself I will go and do it”
David has learnt some valuable lessons from his injury, and realises that he needs to do things differently with his training: “I prefer the heavy weights, but I should keep doing the light weights; and now I have learnt the hard way that I should.”
He also had more positive words to say about his coach, Lesley Ada: “I would like to thank God for giving me such a great coach. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, but he’s still always there for me. He always believes that any athlete can do their very best.”
Looking to the future, David is looking forward to the Pacific Games next year in Papua New Guinea, but also realises the difficulty that comes with being able to train: “To be a good lifter, you need time off, you need to rest – that’s when you become even stronger.” His experience of the atmosphere and competition at the Commonwealth Games will help to encourage him in the future: “The atmosphere is quite extreme and intense. Here when you are in for the medals you are competing against guys from Africa, Europe and South America.”
This article was produced by Dan O’Hara of The Reporters’ Academy, the official media of the Pacific Nations at Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Currently reporting from the athletes village. The Reporters’ Academy is a youth media production company integrated into the world of sport, media and education.
