Four Samoan men and women weightlifters have emerged victorious from a regional online weightlifting competition and won a total of AU$10,000 ($18,525 tala) in prize money.

Samoa Weightlifting Association President, Tuaopepe Jerry Wallwork, confirmed the competition results and the cash prizes that the weightlifters had won.

For the men’s division Sanele Mao and Don Opeloge were the top performers with Leotina Petelo and Iuniarra Sipaia for the women.

Tuaopepe revealed that while the men weightlifters walked away with the top prizes, one of them got injured but was still able to lift and secure second place for himself and Samoa.

He added that both men were superior and dominated the overall men’s point tally.

“Sanele Mao winning the overall points in a very close battle with  Don Opeloge. Sanele won AU$4000 prize money, Don Opeloge with an injury managed to win second place with AU$3000 prize money," he said.

"The 2020 OWF Online LIVE Cup took place over the weekend 5 and 6 December. The SWA Samoa weightlifting Team  2 girls – Leotina Petelon and Iuniarra Sipaia – lifted well but were unsuccessful in their last attempts to secure the overall win.”

"Leotina placed third overall and won AU$2000 prize money, Iuniarra was placed 4th overall and won AU$1000 prize money.”

Expressing how proud he was with the team’s performance, Tuaopepe emphasised that despite the lockdown the weightlifters still showed potential and are still striving to bring out their best performance. 

He also spoke on how hard it is to ensure that they maintain their top position in such tough and competitive competitions.

"A fantastic performance by the team, and especially the men who were very dominant and above the rest. Our team has been performing at every online meet this year. It is very tough to maintain a high-level performance at every competition," he said.

Tuaopepe also acknowledged the people behind their success, and added that he hopes they will continue to do their best in every online competition they're involved in.

"We give special thanks to Samoa Water Authority as the name behind the Samoa weightlifting team also thank you to Samoa Paints Limited Pure Pacific Water," he said.

The SWA Samoa Weightlifting will now focus on their meeting with Fiji on 18-19 December for the seventh round of the OWF Online League 2020. 

Samoa is still leading the tally and to date remains undefeated since the start of the tournament.