But a group of the region’s top weightlifters have given new meaning to the phrase after their impressive results at the South Island weightlifting championships in Nelson at the weekend.
From the team of 20 lifters representing the region, Otago returned home with 12 gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
Jay Still, Julian Harker, Callan Helms, Oliver Rohtmets, Ella Rowe, Jeremy Manteiga, Ian Liddle, Hannah Close, Louise Richards, Sam Shepherd, Bonnie Macgregor and Carmi Oosthuizen collected gold.
Jumari Oosthuizen and Julia Hullen each won silver and Karen Ladbrook and Georgia Alston secured bronze.
Among the highlights were Close and Harker, who were named best female and male lifters respectively.
Close, competing in the women’s 59kg class, lifted a 75kg snatch and 90kg clean and jerk to finish with a total of 165kg, and had a Sinclair total — calculated from the overall total and the athlete’s gender and body weight — of 226.022 to be named best female lifter.
Harker, competing in the men’s 89kg class, finished with a 105kg snatch and 140kg clean and jerk for a total of 245kg, and he had a Sinclair total of 302.247 to secure the victory.
Youngster Manteiga is also proving he has a big future in the sport in the youth 81kg male class.
Manteiga completed an 80kg snatch and a 100kg clean and jerk to finish first with 180kg overall.
His total was a New Zealand under-15 record, surpassing the 164kg total he set at the Dunedin championships in March.
The region was impressive as a whole as well.
Otago won the best female team trophy for the 10th consecutive year and backed that up with the best male team trophy for the third year in a row.
