Leowell bags bronze in 67-kg class

HONIARA, Solomon Islands—Weightlifter Leowell Cristobal flew all the way to the South Pacific from Florida and didn’t come out empty-handed as he bagged a bronze medal in the clean & jerk portion of the 67-kg class yesterday morning at the Maranatha Hall during the 2023 Pacific Games.

Cristobal was in a tough division with big guns Samoa and Nauru who laid waste to the competition by lifting the heaviest, but Cristobal made do with bronze as his best lift was 137 kg.

The gold medal went to Samoa’s Nevo Ioane with a 166-kg record-breaking clean & jerk lift and silver was Nauru’s Ditto Ika with a 145-kg lift.

Ioane swept the competition as he won gold in the concurrent Oceania Weightlifting Championships; gold overall with 260 kg and won the snatch portion with a 120-kg lift.

Samoa rocked the house as Ioane broke the 67-kg Oceania clean & jerk record by 1 kg that he set in 2020. They filled the hall with their chants and cheers as the crowd looked on and congratulated them.

After the competition and during the awarding ceremony, the U.S. Air Force airman was all smiles as he got on the podium to hand Team NMI its fifth medal of the games. Cristobal said he was “grateful and honored to represent the NMI and bring a bronze!”

“Throughout the competition, I was just focused on one lift at a time, do my best, and really have fun out there and experience the moment,” he said. “I’m happy to be part of this level of competition and I’ve gained valuable experience from it.”

“The crowd was great and I’m thankful to have a large NMI group cheering me on!” He added, “I wanna say thanks to all my friends and family for supporting me. I want to wish a happy second birthday to my niece, Micah Rivas!”

As for how the experience in the Solomons has been, he said, “It’s my first time here and it feels very much like home with the amazing people.”

He added that two weeks from now, he will compete in the IWF Grand Prix in Doha, Qatar and is looking forward to it. Cristobal flew in last Sunday and is leaving this Thursday.

Team manager Greg Borja said he’s proud of Cristobal’s accomplishments. “Although he wasn’t able to hit his third lift in the snatch, his clean & jerk performance brought the NMI another bronze to add to the medal count. While serving our country in the Air Force, he will continue to train, as he and the rest of our team prepare for the Oceania Championships in New Zealand this coming February 2024.”

As of 12pm yesterday, this brought CNMI’s medal tally to six—one gold, two silver, and three bronze medals.