Dika Toua, PNG’s weightlifting champion, proved once again how tough she is, fighting down to the wire against Indian weightlifter, Sanjita Khumukcham.
In front of her family and a mass of PNG supporters, Toua took out the silver medal in the 53kg weightlifting competition.
Toua finished third in the Snatch section of the competition with lifts of 78kg and 80kg, with the Canadian and the Indian weightlifters ahead of her on weight.
Khumukcham broke the Commonwealth Games 53kg snatch record with a lift of 84kg to hold the lead.
Toua came back strongly in the Clean and Jerk starting after the majority of the field had completed their lifts, with a first lift of 102kg.
Khumukcham lifted 104kg and 108kg and then went for the gold and Toua’s record of 111kg, from the Glasgow Games, in 2014, with a lift of 112kg.
The pressure finally got to her and she missed the lift. This left Toua with the final lift of the competition.
The venue went silent and Toua increased her lift weight to 113kg, a full 2kg over her previous record of 111kg.
Toua completed the clean and the crowd held its breath as she went for the jerk and the gold. She missed and the gold was not to be.
Team manager, Willie Tamasi, said she gave everything.
Noumea-based coach and weightlifting mentor, Paul Coffa, was ecstatic with her performance, stating that she held nothing back and gave it her all, attempting a lift well above her personal best.
She had nothing to lose as she was holding second place and she just went for it.
Chef de Mission, Tamzin Wardley, reported that ͞the whole of Team PNG is just so proud of Dika and the whole weightlifting team.
Her determination is inspiring to the whole team which she has been part of for so many years.
“She is the heart of our team with her bubbling joy that turns into fierce steeliness once competition starts,” stated Wardley.
“It was wonderful that her family was there to watch and see what a superstar their daughter and mother really is."