WEIGHTLIFTING: Dual Olympian Damon Kelly believes he is on track to help Australia qualify a weightlifting position at next year’s Olympics after he coasted to victory at the Australian Championships in Melbourne.
Kelly set himself a target of a 360kg total in the super heavyweight final, and finished with 361, despite missing his final lift in the snatch.
Now the father of two young boys, Kelly said it’s been hard finding the time to train.
“The last few weeks leading into this competition it’s been pretty up and down, just trying to attend training, let alone the lifts I’ve been able to do,” he said.
“I can really only judge by the competition totals. I generally lift better in competition, you go into auto-pilot, the muscle memory of the last 17 years kicks in.”
With less than 12 months until Rio, Kelly said he is satisfied with where he is. Having been to the last two Olympics and three Commonwealth Games, he has a pretty fair idea how to prepare for big events.
“I wouldn’t mind a few more kilos on the total, but I should have done enough now to get selected for the Commonwealth Championships in October, and hopefully there I can I can add another five to ten kilos on my total,” he said.
“If I can keep doing that over the next six months leading into the Oceania Championships next year I’ll be on the right track.
“I’ve just got to keep chipping away and have a bit more focus on the training.”
Tasmania enjoyed double success on the final day of the Championships, with Jenna Myers winning the women’s super heavyweight title, and Camilla Fogagnola taking the 75kg gold.
Myers spoke of her relief after the event, after she had to withdraw in dramatic circumstances from last year’s Commonwealth Games when she collapsed before the event.
And then in April this year the 29-year-old badly injured her thumb in a work accident, requiring her to have a ligament re-attached and six weeks in plaster.
Not surprisingly, Myers struggled early in Sunday’s final.
“I certainly have lifted better in the past,” she said.
“But I shouldn’t be too hard on myself, that’s the most I’ve lifted since my injury. I would have liked six out of six lifts, but it didn’t go according to plan.”
Glasgow silver medalist, Simplice Ribouem, came out on top in the men’s 95kg division, although he was ineligible to win the gold because he has hardly lifted in 2015.
Earlier this year his father died in Cameroon, and Ribouem contracted malaria when he went returned to Africa for the funeral.
But the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist is focused on getting to Rio next year.
“It’s going to be tough to qualify, especially with Damon (Kelly) and Francois (Etoundi), but I’ll be giving it my all,” he said.
Zac Grgurevic was an easy winner in the men’s 105kg division.
ROSS SOLLY FOR AUSTRALIAN WEIGHTLIFTING FEDERATION
