Weightlifting’s Santos bags NMI’s first medal

HONIARA, Solomon Islands—Weightlifter Ray Santos handed the CNMI its first gold medal in the 2023 Pacific Games and didn’t stop there as he hauled in three more medals—two silver and one bronze in the 55-kg division weightlifting competition held at the Maranatha Hall yesterday afternoon.

Santos shot up just like the fireworks in the opening ceremony to successfully complete all three of his snatch lifts to secure the gold medal.

“Don’t miss, don’t miss, don’t miss,” Santos thought throughout his snatches and went on to successfully lift 90kg, second lift was 93kg, and topped it off with 96kg.

The silver went to Marshall Islands’ Mike Riklon and bronze was Solomon Islands’ Philip Masi.

Santos claimed bronze in the clean & jerk after failing two attempts with only a successful lift of 112kg. Riklon redeemed himself and won gold with 116kg, while Masi brought home silver with a 113kg lift.

Overall, Santos settled for the silver medal with a total weight lifted of 208kg. Riklon bagged gold with a 212kg total and Masi was bronze after he lifted 203kg total.

In the concurrent Oceania Weightlifting Championships, Santos won silver. Gold went to Riklon and the bronze medalist was Masi.

After the competition, Santos was asked how he felt bringing home the CNMI’s first medal—and a gold at that—and he said, “I’m just happy to even place you know. I had to cut a lot of weight and my knees are not in the best shape. But you know, it is what it is. We’re here, showed up, lifted the weight, and we made it to the podium. So, that’s all that matters.”

As for the competition, he said this year was a little more challenging. “They really pushed me but the best lifter was Marshall Islands today. We can’t win everything—I wish I did, but it is what it is.”

On how he felt during his lifts, he said he felt a rush of adrenaline and was hyped up throughout his snatches, but when it came to the clean & jerk portion, he said he could feel his knees acting up and felt tired.

He said his toughest competitor was Marshall Islands—the same as when he competed in the 2014 Micro Games. “I’m always behind Marshall Islands, I don’t know why. But next time, I’m going to try to go for the record—110-kg snatch, 138-kg clean & jerk, and 248-kg total. That’s my goal until I retire. Until I break the record, that’s when I’ll retire.”

He then thanked Lone Fox, Health City Guam, Shirley’s Catering, his family, along with his weightlifting team. “I wish my family was here cheering me on, but in spirit, they’re here,” he added.

He dedicates his win to Rep. T.J. Manglona and his family, who just lost his daughter a few months ago. “I did it for them. #mimiforever.”

Antonette Labausa, fellow weightlifter and coach, said “Ray looked crisp, and he was just moving so well. So I’m really, really happy for him… he’s been training since we got here and I think he only rested on Sunday. Our sport is a lot different from everybody else’s, so conservation of energy, it’s important to save it for the competition.

She added, “I was expecting a gold of some sort and I’m really happy for him. He did all of the hard work and his preparation and I am proud of him, whatever color medal he got.”

Team manager Greg Borja said he feels very proud of Santos’ accomplishments. “He’s put a lot of time and work into developing himself to get to this level. Last year, he was the Oceania champion as well, so he had a lot of pressure on him, and I’m really glad that he stepped up and was able to do what he did today—bringing home gold for Team NMI is something the weightlifting is always proud of—as well as bringing home silvers and bronze. I think it’s great to add to CNMI’s medal tally.”

As for the awarding ceremony, the flag in the middle for the gold medalist was Marshall Islands’ flag, so when Santos was awarded the gold medal for the snatch portion, Nick Gross, Team CNMI’s chef de mission brought it up to the officials, but they said they couldn’t change it because the overall winner was the Marshall Islands. As a result, the photos with Santos on the top podium had the Marshall Islands’ flag as the backdrop, while silver had the NMI’s flag.