Medal blitz on a night to savour
Tipping the scales at 168kg, Liti is understood to be the heaviest athlete competing at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. He dwarfs Kiwi shot put star Tom Walsh (120kg) and Tall Blacks big man Alex Pledger (113kg).
Tongan links
Liti was born in New Zealand, but spent the first 10 years of his life in Tonga, before moving back to Auckland.
He attended Auckland’s One Tree Hill College. The school has produced other notable sportsmen, including Paea Wolfgramm (boxing) Iafeta Paleaaesina (rugby league) and Brad Butterworth (yachting).
Tough journey
Liti is the second youngest of 11 siblings and admits life hasn’t always been easy for him.
‘‘My mum used to give me five dollars a day, so that was like two dollars and twenty for the bus fare and then you get two dollars eight for whatever you’re gonna buy, that buys you nothing,’’ he said in a prior interview.
‘‘So I used to always eat bad, once a day – sometimes not even, don’t even eat some days.’’
Taking up weightlifting
He discovered weightlifting at One Tree Hill College, being introduced by coach Tina Ball, who remains his mentor. Initially, he battled in the sport.
‘‘I’m still young, still got a lot to learn, this sport’s exciting, when I first started I didn’t really like it, I thought it was boring,’’ he said.
‘‘There’s lots of sitting down, so I kind of like it now.’’
World weightlifting championships
Liti competed at his first world weightlifting championships in
Time, it goes so fast when you’re having fun. On Monday night, New Zealand’s lumpy sofa slouchers grew ever more rapidly short of breath as our finely-tuned Commonwealth Games athletes delivered healthy returns.
As Principal McGee astutely said in Grease, ‘‘if you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter.’’
And that’s what Kiwis did as their sporting representatives won four gold and two silver medals overall on an evening of entertaining excellence.
It was a hectic few hours of highlights and heroics.
David Liti became our new favourite ‘‘fat guy’’.
He usurped Tom Walsh in that role around the same time the titanic Timaruvian was also winning gold. Walsh couldn’t reproduce his best but it was enough to grab the gold he missed in Glasgow.
The 166kg Liti blew a kiss to the judges and stole our hearts as he won the leviathan class in men’s weightlifting - and then finished the night by guiding injured silver medalist Lauititi Lui of Samoa off the stage wheelchair.
Joelle King squashed SarahJane Perry, finally ensuring her English rival stayed quiet while Paul Coll took silver in the men’s final.
Sophie Pascoe remained NZ’s Queen of the Pool as she collected her second gold from as many events. Pascoe’s efforts have taken their toll, but such are her towering expectations that she’s the only one unhappy with two golds.
It wasn’t all frothy beer though, as Laurel Hubbard got skittled in the women’s +90kg weightlifting.
This country’s trailblazing transgender athlete seemed set to win gold but injured her elbow during an unsuccessful lift. A supportive crowd collective groaned as she winced in pain, and then felt her pain again when it was announced she couldn’t continue.
Then it was a case of where has your gold gone, Miss Robinson, as a nation turned its sympathetic eyes to her.
Para-athlete Holly Robinson set a new world record with her first throw in the women’s F46 javelin and that held until fierce rival Hollie Arnold of Wales set a new mark and snatched gold with her last hurl. from behind his