The S.W.A. Samoa weightlifting team is back at training at Tuana’imato to prepare to take on Pacific rivals Nauru later this month in the Oceania Weightlifting Federation (O.W.F.) Online Cup.

Samoa Weightlifting Federation (S.W.F.) President, Tuaopepe Jerry Asiata Wallwork, confirmed in an interview with Samoa Observer that his team had returned from holidays and begun their preparations for the next round of the regional tournament.

"We started yesterday, we are back to training every day twice a day. The full team is back into training camp and are all living at the training centre," he said. 

"They are hungry to get back into it. They know they have a job to do this year and some high-level goals to achieve.  

“We will be working extra hard this year especially with the aim of an Olympic medal.”

Tuaopepe said 2021 is a big year for the S.W.A. weightlifting team as there are tournaments to attend and they have to make their mark this year.

"This year is a big year for us. We have set many goals and we have many international tournaments that we need to make our mark," he added.

But for their matchup against Nauru, Tuaopepe is confident that his team is in good shape and will continue to prepare for it well. 

"In the matchup with Nauru, we want to continue our form from last year, we are preparing for it now,” he said. “The team is still in very good shape because we took very little time out. Nauru is also a good team. We will give it our best.”

Tuaopepe also acknowledged their sponsor and said he hopes more weightlifters qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. 

"Again, we kick off 2021 with the strong backing of Samoa Water Authority, the name behind the Samoa weightlifting team," he said.

"Qualification for the Olympics will only be finalised in April this year."

There are two more rounds left for the O.W.F. Online league and they will take on Nauru this month and Pacific 2 next month.

"We are building the team now for a peak performance next month for the final round," added Tuaopepe.

Samoa currently leads with a total score of 8578.38kg, followed by Australia (3585.51kg), Nauru (2414.35kg) and New Zealand.