‘Very busy’ 2023 for CNMI Weightlifting

It was a busy but not as fruitful year for CNMI Weightlifting Federation for 2023, according to president John Davis.

At the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands last November, the weightlifting team consisting of six lifters collectively won four medals—with three won by Ray Santos and the other by Leowell Cristobal.

With that, Davis said, “This was a very busy year for us, but we did not end it as successfully as we hoped,” and rated the year as a 7 on a scale of 1-10.

It was indeed a busy year as the federation hosted several events and also had some lifters compete off island as well. Earlier in the year, the federation hosted 20 local weightlifting athletes at the Marianas Barbell Competition at the Gilbert C. Ada Gym last January.

In February, CNMI sent 14 athletes to Guam to compete in the Guam Open National Championships and were successful in snagging some medals.

Then in March, the federation hosted the first quasi-international competition, the 2023 Marianas Weightlifting Cup and competed against Guam lifters also at the Ada Gym.

Heavy lifter Joey Colisao competed in Apia, Samoa last October and became the U23 +109kg champion at the Oceania Weightlifting Championships.

As for highlights, despite a busy year, Davis said, “I’m not sure that CNMI Weightlifting, as a federation, can point to any highlights. Our individual athletes have had some measure of success and for that we are grateful and we congratulate and support them. But our athletes still have no common and identifiable place to train as a cohesive unit.”

He added, “Like other sports entities, we receive absolutely no support from the government, though weightlifting athletes win the majority of CNMI medals at international games.”

With what to look forward to this year, he said they “plan to keep encouraging our current athletes to train and win. We hope to get more youth and junior athletes involved with the sport. And we will keep beating the bushes to get financial and material support for athletes to compete at international events.”