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Newsroom
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Newsroom
From pain to podium: Kiwi teen lifters make history
Before she stepped onto the platform in Lima, Peru, Olivia Selemaia felt the weight of past failure pressing down on her. Warming up to take that same world stage, Mollie King felt her back 'pop' while hoisting 85kg of iron. It could easily have derailed both teenage Kiwi weightlifters. Instead, they pushed through the pain and the mental pressure to claim five medals between them at the world junior and youth championships earlier this month – the best performance by a New Zealand weightlifting team at a global event. Selemaia's silver in the 71kg class, clinched by lifting a total of 235kg, is the highest a Kiwi has ever finished at an International Weightlifting Federation competition. For the talented 19-year-old lifter from south Auckland, the performance in Peru was a huge redemption, after she 'bombed' at the last world junior championships in Spain eight months ago. 'I didn't know how to lift the bar. I just blanked out,' she says of that momentary setback. 'It was playing on my mind in Peru, but I had a good chat with my coach Simon [Kent] the night before and we got it out of the way. 'During the competition, I was really nervous, but I knew I was prepared – my training had been consistent and I believed in myself. I went out there and gave it my all, and I didn't walk off that platform with any regrets.' Her snatch lift of 106kg – earning a bronze medal – was a personal best, and her clean and jerk of 129kg (another bronze) was only 1kg off the heaviest she's lifted in training. She smashed New Zealand and Oceania senior and junior records, and her overall performance would have put her in seventh place at last year's Olympic Games (Selemaia missed qualifying for Paris by a couple of kilos). And it's fuelled her desire to compete at the LA 2028 Games. Mollie King stunned with her performance at the world junior and youth champs in Peru. Photo: Bowen Stuart For King, the head girl at Whanganui Girls' College who holds down two part-time jobs and trains on her own, the world championship was as much a mental victory as it was physical. A recurring back injury struck just as she was warming up behind the stage. 'Suddenly I had this big mental challenge that flipped my entire competition upside down,' the +81kg youth lifter says. 'I had to switch my focus from, 'Get the best out of the experience and get on that podium' to 'Just give it everything you've got, because it's going to be a fight now'. Mentally it was really hard.' Nevertheless, 17-year-old King rose above the injury and lifted her best-ever clean and jerk of 126kg (a personal best of 11kg) to win silver, and a personal best total of 223kg to collect bronze. She broke multiple New Zealand records, too. Their podium finishes anchored a startling overall performance by the New Zealand women's team – six of the seven Kiwis in Peru – who finished sixth of 54 nations. It underscores the growth of women's weightlifting in New Zealand. 'It's affirmation we're on the right track,' says Kent, who's also Weightlifting NZ president Simon Kent. 'We're continuing our person-first philosophy, making sure we have quality training environments where our female athletes can thrive. We just have to stay on course.' Sending a strong team to next year's Commonwealth Games, where weightlifting is one of the 10 sports at the scaled-back event, is their next focus. And both Selemaia and King want to be there. Crunching numbers, crushing records Numbers aren't important to Olivia Selemaia (best known as Livi). 'Half the time I forget what my PBs are to be honest. Simon keeps up with them for me,' she laughs. Even the three world championship medals she brought home last week are, in her eyes, 'just a bonus'. 'What I really won that day was progress in our sport for the young athletes coming up,' Selemaia says. 'Usually overseas, people don't know who the New Zealanders are. But we made a cultural statement, doing the haka for our athletes, and we showed we're capable of competing on the world stage. We don't want to be underdogs.' Livi Selemaia finished 11th at the world senior champs last year, aged 18. Photo: Bowen Stuart Selemaia has certainly made her presence felt – boosting her lift totals by 25kg in the past year. Kent says a focus on her health has probably made the difference in her performance. Kent has learned a lot about 'women's performance health', after five years coaching Tokyo Olympian Megan Signal. 'Simon keeps learning with us,' Selemaia says. 'He guides us through the right nutrition and our menstrual health. I'm not 100 percent healthy yet, but I'm improving a lot.' Signal, now running the Papatoetoe Olympic Weightlifting Club where Selemaia trains, is a mentor to the teenage lifter. 'If I struggle mentally, I just hit her up for advice because she's been through it all,' Selemaia says. In 2023, Selemaia left Sancta Maria College to concentrate on making the Paris Olympics. Just 17, she went to her first world senior championships in Saudi Arabia. 'That's when a door opened for me to qualify for the Olympics,' she says. 'I was so close – just a couple of kilos short of going.' Last year, she was 11th at the senior worlds in Bahrain. 'It was a massive step forward for Livi,' says Kent, who's worked with her since she was 12. She's committed to training full-time but also works for the Lift for Gold programme – visiting south Auckland schools to introduce kids to weightlifting. 'We'd love to work our way around the country. We need more young athletes to join the sport,' she says. Selemaia was nine when she started lifting at a cross fit gym with her mum, and narrowed her focus three years later. 'If I hadn't found sport because of Mum, I'd be a bit lost,' she says. 'I enjoyed the independence weightlifting brought me and it challenged me mentally.' One of her biggest challenges, though, has been financially. Her Olympic campaign cost her around $40,000. All of the Kiwi athletes in Peru paid their own way. 'It's really hard because it's been just me and Mum for a very long time,' Selemaia says. 'We've had the support of our family and community, but it's hard asking people for money.' At 13, Livi Selemaia won two Pacific Games medals in Samoa, inspired by former world discus champion Beatrice Faumuina. Photo: NZOC. Her collapse at last year's world champs came out of the blue: 'I was doing the numbers consistently in training, but on the day of competition, I became disassociated from myself,' she says. 'I became non-verbal. I didn't know what was going on. I just bombed.' But it's hardened her resilience. 'I took the time to deal with my emotions. I had Megan on that trip, and she didn't leave me alone for too long. I came home and I could lift again,' Selemaia says. To qualify for next year's Commonwealth Games, she must compete in the Commonwealth champs in India in August, the senior world champs in Norway in October, and next year's Oceania champs in Samoa. 'There's still a lot of work to do,' she says. 'But I won't let my guard down till I've retired, and that's not any time soon.' Exams, fries and sport on the world stage Mollie King went straight back to class at Whanganui Girls' after arriving home from Peru, quickly shifting her focus to studying for NCEA Level 3. She's returned to her shifts at the local fish and chip shop, where she's been frying for the past four years, and working at the counter at Mitre 10. And she's kept training, alone, in her home gym. Discipline and routine help her through hectic days. 'Right now, I wouldn't change it for the world,' she says. 'Consistent routines are huge when you've got so much going on – trying to juggle a full school day with assignments due, training, then going to the pools to recover, osteo and massage, and holding down two part-time jobs. 'Having the backing of my family, my teachers and my coach is humungous.' Mollie King competing at the world junior and youth weightlifting championships in Peru. Photo: Bowen Stuart Her mum, Tania King, now chief executive of Sport Whanganui, was a past principal of Whanganui Girls'. 'So I had a relationship with the teachers before I even came here, and that's just built,' she says. 'They've always believed in me, and I'm so grateful they took me on as head girl, fully knowing I would be away competing throughout the year.' Mitre 10 have been key to King competing overseas – with sponsorship, a part-time job and fundraising sausage sizzles in front of the hardware store. She walked around the city centre handing out sponsorship proposals, and her mum sold wine to help fill the coffers. This was King's second world youth weightlifting championship – last year was also in Lima, where she finished eighth overall. 'This time I put a lot more focused on the job at hand – putting my best self on that platform,' she says. King competed the day after Selemaia, and as you'd expect, fed off her record-breaking performance. 'We all did the haka for her, and seeing her up on the podium made me so proud. I just had that feeling that I knew I could do it, too,' she says. This year, King has been plagued by back issues. It started in training – 'I felt a big pop… it wasn't major, but it was definitely sore. I got osteo and massage to mend it,' she says. 'I went down to Wellington champs feeling a bit iffy, and pushed it on my snatches and I felt it go again. So we were back to square one. 'So then we just focused on getting me to Peru injury-free. I could feel it a little bit at a training camp in Auckland before we left, but nothing major.' Then it wasn't until she was warming up for her competition in Lima, with an 85kg snatch, that she felt that familiar pop again. 'She sat down and said 'I'm gone',' Kent remembers. 'But we helped her work through it and she went out and competed.' Selemaia was out the back with her. 'We just channelled all our competitiveness, and I put it all out there. To walk away with two medals was pretty awesome,' says King. 'If I can be in prime condition and injury-free in India in a few months, it's going to be dangerous.' King and her coach, Gabi Peach – who couldn't be in Peru after recently having a baby – have talked about King putting her hat in the ring for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. 'If it happens, it happens. It's a nice long-term goal and there's a whole lot more on my horizon yet,' says King, who plans to study business, and sport and human performance, at the University of Waikato next year. 'I've always said the 2032 Brisbane Olympics – I'll be there. I'm still young and trying to figure out where I see myself in those events.' As the only Olympic weightlifter in Whanganui, and her coach in Hamilton, King stays motivated through her passion for the sport. 'On the surface it can be really hard at times, but if you dive that little bit deeper you find your why. And mine is because I love lifting. And I love having a bigger goal to strive towards. The gym is my safe place and I love the community.'
NBC Sports
14-04-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
U.S. Star Makena Cook talks Passion and Vision for Flag Football's Growth
Makena Cook, a high school sophomore from Costa Mesa, CA, has witnessed firsthand the rapid growth of flag football. What began as a spontaneous decision to join an all-boys team during recess has quickly turned into the journey of a rising star. Cook's impressive achievements include competing on the U.S. 15U Junior National Team, helping the squad earn back-to-back gold medals at the Jr. International Cup in 2023 and 2024. Her success is a testament to the explosive growth of flag football, but Cook's dream is to continue to break down barriers and build for the next generation. 'By the time I graduate high school, I want to see flag football as a D1 sport everywhere,' Cook says. 'I want every college to have it. I want it to be all over the map —everyone's talking about it, everyone's watching it. It's everywhere. That's the goal.' In the interview below, Makena discusses her journey to the sport, her excitement for flag football's debut at the LA 2028 Games, which NFL quarterbacks inspire her, and much more. Mary Omatiga, *This interview has been edited for length and clarity. I read that you have always had a super high level of athleticism. You asked for a pull-up bar when you were six years old. You've done all of the sports — soccer, track, Ninja Warrior training, basketball. So tell me, how did you end up in flag football? Makena Cook: From just playing every sport and seeing my brother playing, I figured if [the sport] was going to be an option, I might as well just have fun and try something [new]. Can you share the story of how you got recruited to play on the Boys Flag Football team? Cook: We were at recess one time, and I was playing soccer. One of the boys threw the ball over, and when I threw it back to them, they said, 'Why don't you come play with us?' and I started from there. What was your experience like playing for an all-boys team? Cook: It was a little bit hard, but you get used to it after a while. At first, it was an adjustment, especially coming from playing with all girls and from soccer. But it was fun. I was friends with most of them too, so that was nice. Is there a specific moment where you really fell in love with flag football? Do you have a specific memory that comes to mind that day? Cook: I don't know if I have one specifically for flag football, but with football in general, it's from watching the Super Bowls with my family and all of my neighbors. Seeing the atmosphere and being with everyone while watching the game is just really fun. I think that's when I fell in love with football. HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA - AUGUST 09: Makena Cook, left, of Orange Lutheran throws passes during a pre-game warmup for a girls flag football scrimmage game against Marina at Marina High School in Huntington Beach on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. Girls flag football is an official CIF sport this coming school year. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images) MediaNews Group via Getty Images Did you ever imagine that you could be competing at the highest level of football at that time? Cook: Playing football has always been a dream of mine. It's always something that I've loved doing and enjoyed watching. Being a part of it was always something I wanted to do. What do you love about flag football, and what has the sport taught you about yourself and about life in general? Cook: I think it's the structure of the game, but also the freeness of the game. There are routes and plays, but anything can happen during the game. There are so many different plays. You might run a slant, but you can turn that slant into a 50-yard touchdown. The flow of the game is just way different. In soccer, you're playing the entire time but in flag football, you stop, and there are different downs. Those differences make it super fun. Last season, you were featured in the NFL Kickoff commercial 'This is Football Country'. In the behind-the-scenes video that was posted, you ended with some very powerful words. When they asked you what advice you wanted to give to the next generation, you said, 'The barriers will break down, and you just have to keep dreaming.' What are some of the barriers that you faced in flag football, and how have you seen them come down? Cook: Dealing with the people who say, 'She's a girl, so she can't play football,' and then going out there and throwing and having them say, 'Whoa, she can do that?' The stereotypical comments like, 'You throw like a girl' or 'She can't do it.' There are already natural barriers against women in sports, period — not just in flag football. I think if we keep breaking down those barriers and keep building for the next generation, there won't be any of those barriers left. You got to play for the U.S 15U Junior National Team for the last two seasons. Tell me about your experience last summer at the Junior International Cup. Cook: It was so much fun! In the dorms, we stayed with all the different countries together and that was just so cool. Some of us didn't speak the same language, so we used Google Translate to talk to each other. I've always just played against people within the country, but to be able to play against people from around the world was just so cool and really special. Makena's Instagram Did having that taste and experience give you any extra motivation for the LA 2028 Games? Cook: Yes! That's definitely a big dream for me, and I'm going to keep working towards that. Did you grow up watching the Olympics as a kid? Cook: Oh yeah, every single Olympics was a big deal in our house. It was so much to watch. It's a one-of-a-kind moment and something you always dream about. Did you ever think that flag football would be an Olympic sport? Cook: No, I didn't. When I was little, I always dreamed about playing soccer in the Olympics, but now that it's flag football, it's a whole new world, and it's amazing! I'm so excited! What has it been like having the people closest to you supporting you and pushing you towards the dream, especially when you said there were so many barriers set up at the time? Cook: It means a lot. Sometimes, I would come home and be really upset about how people were treating me, but the support at home — being able to talk to my mom and having my brother encourage me and help me get better at football — all helped me. Leaning on my village was really helpful. Who are some other members of your flag football village? Cook: All of my coaches, all of the USA [staff], and all of my club are too many people to thank, but they all support me and help me chase my dream, so I'm really thankful for them. Are there any members on the senior national team that you look up to? Cook: All of them, honestly. Being able to be in the juniors and watch them practice sometimes was just so cool. That could be me in a couple of years so that's really exciting! Who are the quarterbacks that you love to watch? Cook: Patrick Mahomes — he does things that no one else can do. Obviously, Tom Brady — all the championships he's won and his leadership. There are so many quarterbacks. Lamar Jackson — watching him run and trying to emulate his moves. All the quarterbacks, every single time I'm watching an NFL game, I pay attention to what they do and try to copy it. Some of those players you mentioned are global ambassadors for flag football and have vocalized their support for the game. What does it mean to you when you get to hear that? Cook: That means so much! Being able to know that they see us and support us just gives me an extra boost of energy. It makes me think 'Okay, we can do this.' You're only a sophomore in high school, and you are quickly rising in the sport. Where would you like to see flag football go by the time that you graduate high school? Cook: By the time I graduate high school, I want to see flag football as a D1 sport everywhere. I want every college to have it. I want it to be all over the map —everyone's talking about it, everyone's watching it. It's everywhere. That's the goal.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
LA 2028 Olympics adds swimming sprints and more mixed-gender gymnastics
Swimming at the LA 2028 Games will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, where 38,000 seats will make it the largest swimming venue in Olympic history. Photograph: LA28 Sprint-distance swimming races and mixed-gender events in artistic gymnastics and golf are among the additions to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, after the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) approval of a record 351 medal events on Wednesday. Advertisement The LA28 schedule includes the Olympic debuts of the 50m backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly for both men and women, and a mixed 4x100m relay on the track. The additions are part of a broader push by the IOC to modernize the Olympics and attract new audiences. LA28 will feature 22 more medal events than Paris 2024, while maintaining a total athlete quota of 10,500 across 31 sports. 'These additions reflect our commitment to innovation and gender equality,' an IOC spokesperson said. 'They offer thrilling new moments for athletes and fans alike.' Related: 'It's a privilege': Boris van der Vorst, the man who saved Olympic boxing Advertisement The sprint swimming events bring pure speed to the Olympic pool, with the 50m backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly offering fast-paced races that are already staples at the world championships but have never featured on the Olympic stage. Track and field's new 4x100m mixed relay adds to the growing lineup of mixed-gender events across the Games, while artistic gymnastics will feature its first mixed team competition – blending male and female routines into a single event. Several of the new and returning events will unfold in some of Los Angeles' most prominent venues. Swimming will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, where 38,000 seats will make it the largest swimming venue in Olympic history. Gymnastics will take place at Arena, home of the NBA's Lakers, in downtown Los Angeles. Basketball will be played at the LA Clippers' Intuit Dome, while track and field will remain at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Six new mixed events have been added, including those in golf, rowing (coastal beach sprint), table tennis and archery. Sport climbing will also see its boulder and lead disciplines split into separate medal events after previously being contested as a combined format. The LA Games have articulated a priority in gender equality. For the first time in Olympic history, the number of female athlete quota spots (5,655) will surpass male quota spots (5,543). The Games will also feature full parity in all team sports, with women's soccer expanding to 16 teams – four more than the men's tournament – and water polo adding two women's teams to match the men's 12. Advertisement Boxing will also achieve full gender parity with the addition of a seventh women's weight category, equalizing the number of men's and women's divisions. In 3x3 basketball, the number of teams per gender will expand from eight to 12. The IOC received 46 new event proposals from 24 of 31 international federations. The final program was shaped by guiding principles set in 2023, which emphasized global appeal, cost-efficiency, athlete focus and gender balance. Five sports proposed by the LA28 Organising Committee – baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash – will return or debut in Los Angeles, contributing an additional 698 athlete quota places. While the 2028 Games will introduce more events than ever before, the IOC maintains that every addition has been weighed for its impact on scheduling, logistics and overall athlete experience. Advertisement 'The LA28 program reflects a thoughtful balance of tradition and transformation,' the IOC said. 'It celebrates excellence while adapting to what the Olympic Games must become.' The Los Angeles Olympics will be held from 14 to 30 July 2028. The full list of medal events can be seen here.
Reuters
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
LA 2028 Games organisers move to ease IOC concerns over visas
PYLOS, Greece, March 20 (Reuters) - Organisers of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics on Thursday moved to ease concerns among International Olympic Committee members over visas and entry requirements for athletes and officials for those Games. Since taking office on January 20, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a number of immigration-related executive orders that focus on stricter border policy, tighter visa vetting procedures and a crackdown on undocumented migrants in the United States. IOC members, including the President of the International Equestrian Federation Ingmar De Vos, asked LA 2028 Games chairman Casey Wasserman at the session in southern Greece about concerns about visas and entry requirements for athletes at the Games given the recent developments in the United States. "We have had four different administrations, three different presidents in our bid process," Wasserman told the IOC session. "All of them have affirmed and reaffirmed their commitment to both full access for everyone and the Olympic Charter. Los Angeles was awarded the Games in 2017. "The Commerce and the State Department under (former President Joe) Biden at the end, created an accelerated visa programme specifically for athletes," Wasserman said. "And in my many conversations with President Trump and Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio, they understand the scale and complexity required to deliver these Games, the access required for not just athletes but for delegations and the incredibly short timeframe on which to do those." The IOC has repeatedly said it was fully confident of the full support of Trump for the Games, with the president also in charge back in 2017 when the U.S. won the nod to host them. "We will have a fully staffed desk at State (department) focusing just on this issue in the next 12 months to get prepared for this and I don't anticipate any problems from any country to come and participate and have their delegations in full force and be part of the Games in Los Angeles," Wasserman said.
BBC News
27-02-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Paralympics president opposed to transgender 'blanket solutions'
The president of the International Paralympic Committee says he is opposed to "blanket solutions" for transgender participation Parsons was speaking after United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order that prevents transgender women from competing in female categories of week, International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidential candidate Seb Coe backed the move, and has also suggested he would consider introducing a blanket ban if elected next month."One thing that is important to us of course is to protect the female category, this is the number one priority," Parsons told BBC Sport."But we also have to acknowledge that there is a growing population of transgender athletes, [and] that they would like to compete at the highest possible level."So how we can bring all of this together is a challenge, and I think science is the answer to that, but I don't think a blanket solution is possible because I do believe sports are different."At the moment you have 'mixed sports', like equestrian for example. So I don't believe in blanket solutions for such a complicated thing, especially because sports are so different in terms of what they demand from the athletes."The IOC and IPC both currently allow individual sports to set their own rules regarding transgender Coe's presidency, World Athletics has banned transgender women from competing in the female category at international events and toughened the rules over the participation of athletes with differences in sex development (DSD). However, under World Para Athletics' rules, a person who is legally recognised as a woman is eligible to compete in the category their impairment qualifies them for. Last year in Paris, Italian runner Valentina Petrillo became the first openly transgender athlete to compete at the Paralympics."When it comes to the IOC and IPC, we are different organisations with different governance models," said Parsons. "We took different decisions on important decisions in the past and this will continue to be the case in terms of the autonomy."Trump has also said he will prevent transgender women from competing in female competitions at the LA 2028 Games by denying them visas to travel to the asked for his response, Parsons said: "Of course we have three years to go, but when it comes to transgender participation it's up to each international federation (IF) to make those decisions in terms of rules and regulations. We will work with the organising committee to make sure the rules of every IF could be respected."This is an operational matter when it comes to the Games and visas. We have to see facts and measures to see how we can then work with decisions that are going to be made."I understand at the moment there are many opinions, many statements, but we need to work with the facts. And this is something that every host agrees when it comes to visas - to guarantee the participation of all different countries and the athletes who are considered eligible by the IOC, IPC and the respective IFs." Trump will 'contribute to success' of LA Games In 2018, Trump was rebuked by the IPC for saying the Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics were "a little tough to watch".Asked how he felt about Trump's return to the White House, Parsons said the president is "a massive sports fan and very competitive, so I'm sure he wants the Games to be successful".He added: "With that in mind we believe he will contribute to the success of the Games and then the Games will provide us with the opportunity to make a breakthrough in the US, to make the Paralympic movement more relevant in the US, and then spark change there."Russia and Belarus were suspended from Paralympic competition after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, although athletes from the two countries were allowed to compete at the Paris Paralympics as neutrals after officials voted against a full asked whether recent hopes for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia may mean the current partial ban is lifted in time for the Winter Paralympics in Italy next year, Parsons said: "We are aware of the discussions taking place over a ceasefire, peace and the conflict coming to an end, which we all hope will happen - not for sport reasons - but for the people of Ukraine."So if this is going to happen and be effective before September when our General Assembly will make a decision, I do think it could have an impact. But it is up to each individual member to cast their vote in the way they believe is right for the Paralympic movement."
