The next winner of Karibati’s Got Talent?
A WEIGHTLIFTER who lost his family’s house in a cyclone won the hearts of Olympic viewers as he danced off stage to raise awareness of the threat climate change poses to his remote Pacific nation.
David Katoatau, 32, got more cheers than any other lifter, including a Brazilian, throughout the men’s 105kg B Group, The Sun reports.
Katoatau’s dances became a trademark of his victory in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow two years ago. That was the first gold medal in any global sporting event for his island nation of Kiribati, but it’s in Rio that he’s really grabbed the world’s attention.
He was a social media sensation for his dancing as Kiribati’s flag bearer at the Rio Games’ opening ceremony, and has continued his rise to cult status courtesy of his sweet moves after every lift.
Kiribati, located in the Central Pacific, is suffering “extreme coastal erosion not just of the beaches but also of the land” according to its government.
Some scientists have predicted a catastrophic effect on Kiribati’s 21 inhabited islands.
“Most people don’t know where Kiribati is,” Katoatau said. “I want people to know more about us so I use weightlifting, and my dancing, to show the world.
“I wrote an open letter to the world last year to tell people about all the homes lost to rising sea levels. I don’t know how many years it will be before it sinks.
“We don’t have the resources to save ourselves.”
Step once to the left.Source:AP
And once to the right.Source:Getty Images
Hands up if you want to see my Michelle Jenneke impersonation.Source:AP
My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.Source:Getty Images
And scene.Source:AFP
Kiribati also lacks the resources for basic sports facilities, as the weightlifter explained.
“There was no gym when I started training as a boy, and there is no gym now,” he said.
“I trained on the beach in the open sun. The bar would become too hot to touch so I had to train at six in the morning.”
Katoatau moved to the Oceania Weightlifting Institute when he was 16 and has been coached by Paul Coffa since then. He now lives and trains at the Institute in Noumea, New Caledonia in the South Pacific.
He has a coaching certificate and intends to team up with Coffa when his lifting days are over. His next target, though, is defending his Commonwealth title on the Gold Coast in Australia in 2018.
He won a state reward of $AUD14,300 for his Commonwealth gold and used it to build a home for his parents on Tarawa Atoll, the most populated of Kiribati’s more than 30 atolls and islands. The house was destroyed in a cyclone soon after its construction, he said.
“We have built another one, but it’s close to the sea so there is always a worry.”
Katoatau, who finished 15th in his 2008 Olympic debut, came in sixth in the B Group with 349kg, 1kg more than his Commonwealth Games effort.
He made his first five lifts but failed with the last one. He kissed the bar and danced off stage regardless, to the cheers of the crowd. “I’ll be dancing again tonight,” he said.
Hungry Tide53:17
An average two metres above sea level, the central Pacific nation of Kiribati is one of the countries in the world most vulnerable to climate change.
