NZ's 2018 weightlifting hero, gold medallist David Liti says he was motivated by proving the people who thought he was "just some fat kid" wrong.
The 21-year-old went into last night's competition as an outside chance of a medal, instead he smashed personal bests to set a new games record.
He lifted a total of 403kg in the mens 105kg-plus class, nailing a 229kg clean and jerk on his final attempt, to take the record.
Speaking after a New Zealand House medal celebration today Liti said his goal has always been to make people proud and proving people wrong.
"I’ve grown up as just a little kid, just a fat kid, everybody thinking I'm just gonna be another fat kid on the couch. So it was all about proving that wrong.
"And being able to showcase the support, the love and the hard work everybody else has backed up on me and just to make sure all their support has paid off."
Liti's success added some gloss to a largely disappointing campaign by the weightlifting team, who had expectations of medals in a number events. Including Glasgow gold medallist Richie Patterson whose international career is likely to have come to an end.
"I really came into the sport looking up to a lot of people and he was one of them. To be able to come out myself and be something that he was, it’s really special and unreal."
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