Fiji have announced themselves at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in spectacular style.
Weightlifter Taniela Rainibogi powered to gold and three Commonwealth Games records in a dominant performance in the men’s 110kg division on Thursday.
The 24-year-old delivered Fiji’s first medal of the Games with a record total of 378kg, lifting 170kg in the snatch and 208kg in the clean and jerk – both Commonwealth Games records.
His winning total pushed England’s Cyrille Tchatchet II into silver with 374kg while Canada’s Xavier Lusignan claimed bronze with 356kg.
Rainibogi’s victory continues a memorable week for Pacific weightlifting after Sāmoa’s Seine Stowers claimed gold and Games records in the women’s 77kg division and Sāmoa’s John Tafi opened his country’s medal tally with silver.
Nauru’s Ezekiel Moses won a bronze and so did Papua New Guinea’s Morea Baru, who clinched the Pacific first medal, a bronze, at the Games. Nauru’s Femily-Crystie Notte also claimed a bronze in the women’s 63kg division.
There was more Pacific interest in the men’s 110kg final with Tonga’s Joshua Makafan Uikilifi Jr finishing fourth on a total of 331kg, narrowly missing out on a medal.
Sāmoa’s Jack Hitila Opeloge and Vanuatu’s Thomas Wilbur were unable to complete the competition.
Fiji’s success didn’t end on the weightlifting platform with young boxer Jasmine Daunakamakama also keeping the country’s medal charge alive.
It was also another milestone for Fiji in the boxing ring.
Daunakamakama defeated Singapore’s Keshani Hansika in the women’s 57kg quarter-final to secure at least a bronze medal, becoming Fiji’s first female boxer guaranteed a podium finish.
The 21-year-old, who is also Fiji’s first woman to compete internationally in boxing, said her strength comes from mana.
“I believe there’s two sides of us,” she said after her win. “There’s an internal war inside all of us where we’re constantly fighting between the ego and our true self, which is the spirit.
“The mana is the will to overcome the fears because the fears are what’s not real.
“What empowers me is the traditional way we see. We don’t value status or the external value of this world, but are more grounded with nature and what is real.”
Daunakamakama now faces Birmingham 2022 champion Michaela Walsh of Northern Ireland for a place in the gold medal bout.
There was another Pacific success when Fiji-born Australian weightlifter Eileen Cikamatana won her third straight Commonwealth Games gold.
The 26-year-old claimed the women’s title after clearing 136kg with her opening clean and jerk lift.
“The only mission I had in mind coming to this competition was winning a third gold medal, and I’m pretty happy that we did it,” Cikamatana said. “Mission accomplished.”
Cikamatana became only the third woman to win three consecutive Commonwealth Games weightlifting titles. She first won Commonwealth gold for Fiji on the Gold Coast in 2018 before switching allegiance to Australia and adding titles in Birmingham and now Glasgow.
Elsewhere, Tonga Tala’s Commonwealth Games campaign ended with a narrow 55-49 loss to Malawi in their final netball match.
Rainibogi’s victory lifts Pacific momentum in Glasgow with Fiji and Sāmoa now both celebrating gold-medal success.
The Pacific medal hunt is far from over with more athletes set to take centre stage in Glasgow across weightlifting, lawn bowls, athletics and boxing in the next 24 hours.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games ends on Monday.
