Astonishing story behind weightlifter's Aussie defection

Australian weightlifter Eileen Cikamatana has come a long way from Levuka — the small village in Fiji where she was born.

On Tuesday, Cikamatana secured her place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with another world-class performance.

However, when her name is up in lights in Paris, it will not be the Fijian flag accompanying it.

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After a long road to the Olympic stage, Cikamatana is ready to represent the land she now calls home — the nation that celebrates the amazing things her body can do.

Cikamatana first developed an interest in weightlifting when one of her primary school teachers encouraged her to take up the sport.

"I tried all the sports in school — whatever sports I came across — and I was an athletic student," she tells Wide World of Sports.

"When my teacher suggested weightlifting, I was like, 'No, I can't do weightlifting because it's for boys, it's a male-dominated sport'."

Cikamatana explains that her teacher immediately challenged her thinking by telling her that his niece was competing in weightlifting at the Olympic Games in London at the time.

"I never knew that weightlifting for women existed until he told me that," she says.

"When I got home I said, 'Mum, can you wake me up early'. And she asked, 'Why? Why do you want to wake up early because you've got school?'.

"I told her, 'I've got to watch my teacher's niece — she's competing in the weightlifting at the Olympics.

"My mum woke me up at the right time the next morning and I watched it, and I saw how amazing the women were with the weights they were lifting.

"I told myself, 'I want to do that one day. I want to compete at the Olympics'.

"So, I had to give the sport a try."

At 15 years of age, Cikamatana was selected to train at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in New Caledonia under renowned coaches Paul and Lilly Coffa.

"I fell in love with the sport," Cikamatana says.

"I was attracted to weightlifting because it helped me break down my own barriers every day.

"I was a tiny girl and looking at these big plates loaded on the bar, I was thinking to myself, 'How am I meant to get these weights over my head?'."

Growing up, Cikamatana was expected to help out with jobs around her family's pig farm like most other girls in the town.

"Every tiny girl in the village was fearful of lifting heavy, big things over their head so they just carried things over their shoulders," she says.

Because of this, Cikamatana was initially afraid of bearing heavy weights.

"It used to play it over so much in my mind and I was asking myself, 'Am I crazy for doing this? Am I crazy for giving weightlifting a go? How am I going to get this weight over my head?'," she says.

"But I told myself there is a first time for everything and if I just believe, I can do it.

"And I'm still here."

Cikamatana continued to improve and progress in her career — winning gold for Fiji in the 90kg class at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

However, a dispute with Weightlifting Fiji soon saw Cikamatana switch allegiances to Australia and move to Sydney.

The 24-year-old admits that how she was being treated and the level of respect and support she was afforded as an individual athlete was having an impact on her mental health.

"I knew that I would have more opportunities in Australia and that I would be respected as an athlete," she says.

"It was very important [for me] to be in the right state of mind to achieve my goals and dreams, and Australia was the best option for me."

In 2019, Cikamatana was granted a global talent visa and given the green light to represent Australia on the international stage.

Despite being recognised as an Australian citizen, Cikamatana was ineligible to don the green and gold at Tokyo 2020, due to eligibility criteria.

"Before we applied for the visa, my coach Paul said that if I went to Australia I would miss the Olympics in Tokyo," she says.

"I turned to Paul and I told him, 'Paul, I am 19 years old, there is always the next Olympics in 2024. If we miss this one we can still go to the next one.

"I didn't mind sitting that one out because in reality, my future was important and I wanted to be somewhere where there would be opportunities for me as an athlete and in my future after the sport.

"So we moved forward and we never looked back."

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Cikamatana made Games history when she became the first woman to win individual gold for two countries after dominating the 87kg class in Birmingham.

After fulfilling the final requisite of the qualifying criteria for Paris 2024 at the IWF World Cup 2024 in Thailand on Tuesday, Cikamatana has turned her full attention to her first Games.

"This meet was a good indication to see where I'm at and what we need to do next to determine our next step," she says.

Taking bronze in the women's 81kg class with a new personal best lift of 263kg (114kg in the snatch and 149kg in the clean and jerk), Cikamatana strengthened her medal chances.

"Every athlete's dream is to go to the Olympics but the ultimate goal is to be a podium finisher," she says.https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5jMvl7yxuf/?utm_source=ig_embed&

"After my performances and results on Tuesday, I'm up there and could go neck and neck for the gold medal.

"My dream has always been to compete at the Olympics but I've always told myself that if I go to the Olympics, I don't want to be just another participant — I want to be a podium finisher and stand on the dais."

Cikamatana will be showcasing demonstration lifts at the AusFitness Expo at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Sunday, May 14.