WEIGHTLIFTING: With an eye on the Rio 2016 Games, dual Olympian Damon Kelly will take to the platform at this week’s Commonwealth Championships with the goal of adding an extra 10 kilograms to his recent totals.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist lifted 361kg in the super heavyweight division at last month’s National Championships and will look to boost that total to around 370kg when he competes in Pune, India on Thursday.
Kelly is part of a 14-strong Australian team taking part in the competition, which is the first Australian qualification event for the Rio Games.
The Queenslander, who played high school rugby union with Cooper Cronk, said the event is a stepping stone to his dream of a third Olympics.
“It’s about getting back into training and onto the stage. It gives you something a bit more to train for,” Kelly said.
“I think I’ll be close to the medals here. It’ll be a pretty tight battle with Itte Detenamo of Nauru. I’ll be up there.
“Next May is the Oceania qualifiers which is important because it’s where Australia will look to qualify a spot at Rio, but this competition is good to keep an eye on others.”
Joining Kelly on the team is Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Francois Etoundi and Pacific Games medallists Liam Larkins and Zac Grgurevic.
Australian Weightlifting Federation High Performance Coordinator Jacqui White said the group is feeling positive heading into competition.
“The ones with more experience like Damon and Francois have been showing the ropes to those with less experience, it’s been really great,” she said.
White said the younger athletes can learn a lot from Kelly’s past Olympic and Commonwealth Games experience.
“He’s just a fantastic competitor. You back him in the competition, you know he’s got it in him. For him this is just a step by step process for Rio. He’s not trying to do anything earth shattering this week. Just a very planned process for next year. But he’s well placed to put that extra 10kg on the board.”
The Commonwealth Championships will also include youth and junior competitions, with seven of the 14 athletes competing in the youth or junior divisions.
Only one Australian female will compete in India, teenager Charrae Myers, with the other female lifters instead preparing for November’s World Championships in Houston, USA.
“We’ve got a good mixture of senior, junior and youth, everyone’s looking good,” Kelly said.
“Everyone’s chatting and asking questions, I’m happy to answer any of the younger guy’s queries.
“The venue and equipment is fantastic. The team are settling in really well. This is where the 2009 Youth Commonwealth Games were held so it’s all done well.”
The first Australians to compete will be James Norman, Ayden McMahon and Matthew Munns on Tuesday.
Full Australian Team:
Senior Men
69kg Matthew Munns WA
77kg Francois Etoundi VIC
77kg Frank Elliott SA
85kg Benjamin Shaw QLD and Liam Larkins VIC
105kg Zac Grgurevic VIC
+105kg Damon Kelly QLD
Junior Men
69kg James Norman QLD
69kg Aydan McMahon NSW
77kg Leo Lark QLD
77kg Ryley Porter QLD
94kg Ridge Barredo NSW
Youth Men
+94kg Marcus Lewis QLD
Youth Women
58kg Charrae Myers TAS
Annie Kearney
olympics.com.au
