In the first session of the 2023 Oceania Weightlifting Federation’s (OWF) Youth, Junior and U23 Championships in Apia, Samoa last week, Marshall Islands weightlifters started strong with Mike Riklon winning the gold medal in the under-23 category in his 55kg (121 pounds). Not only is he now the reigning Oceania U23 Champion, but his six-for-six […]
TERRY SASSER* The July 23 Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which took place a year later than planned, was described by global media outlets as “muted,” “somber,” “subdued,” “overshadowed by a pandemic, but defined by hope, tradition and gestures of diversity.” Rio Olympian swimmer Colleen Furgeson, modeling a traditional Marshallese costume provided […]
In spite of the continued global Covid-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions, which have already denied several Oceania countries the opportunity to participate in the Olympics, Marshall Islands will have a team at the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in Tokyo next month. Rio Olympian and recent Lincoln College graduate Colleen Furgeson will again represent […]
EVE BURNS Here’s to the team in the Marshall Islands that never burns out and didn’t die out. The RMI weightlifting team always brings in medals from any international competition they compete in, even as the weightlifting team adds new faces from year to year. For the upcoming Micronesian Games, weightlifting got ahead of every […]
EVE BURNSThe 2020 Tokyo Olympics were pushed back by a year and the 2021 Pacific Mini-Games in Saipan are considering rescheduling due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While there are concerns regarding the Micronesian Games scheduled for Majuro in 2020, the RMI still has two years before these are scheduled to open. Officials with the RMI […]
On the first day of the Pacific Mini Games weightlifting competition, Marshall Islands’ Mathlynn “Mattie” Sasser dominated the women’s 63kg category, setting five Oceania and five Pacific Games records on her way to three gold medals. Her 219kg (483lbs) total was 46kg (101lbs) above silver-medalist Amanda Gould of New Zealand and bronze-medalist Maximina Uepa of […]
The Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee extended the terms of five of its seven executive members, including President Kenneth Kramer and Secretary General Terry Sasser, at its every-four-year election last week at the Marshall Islands Resort. Nine sports federations affiliated with the National Olympic Committee (NOC) were eligible to cast votes in the election of […]
Mattie Sasser continued her winning ways with a gold medal performance in the United States earlier this month. Competing at the 2016 American Open weightlifting competition in Orlando, Florida, Sasser’s 88kg/194lb snatch and 113kg/249lb clean and jerk for a 201kg/442lbs total broke her previous Oceania 58kg junior snatch and total records. At USA Weightlifting’s (USAW) […]
KATY ATKINSON and SIMON THOMPSON, The Reporters’ Academy Richson Simeon, 18, broke his personal best sprint time as he recorded a time of 11.81 seconds in the Men’s 100m at the Olympic Stadium in Rio last week. After his moment under the spotlight, Simeon mulled over his race: “There weren’t many expectations on me today, […]
Marshall Islands weightlifters Mathlynn “Mattie” Sasser and Kabuati Bob joined over 200 athletes from 19 countries at the 2016 Oceania Weightlifting Championships and Olympic Games Qualification Tournament in Suva, Fiji last month. Mattie set numerous records on her way to winning gold and was honored at the tournament’s closing as the Best Junior Female Lifter […]
