CHAIRMAN of the KwaZulu-Natal Weightlifting Federation Martin Venter said he has high hopes for the growth of weightlifting in the province after this week’s national champs.

The Windermere resident also praised competitors who took part in this weekend’s KZN Weightlifting Olympic Championships held at Fitness Fetish and Fitness Strength & Conditioning (FSC) in Morningside.

The 32-year-old praised all the competitors involved in this year’s competition.

“Every year tha- we’ve hosted the champs, we’ve seen more and more competitors get involved. This year was our biggest number of competitors with multiple gyms competing. The competition is Olympic style, with each athlete taking part in the snatch and the clean and jerk lifts. Each athlete had three attempts in each lift, and the winners were determined by their two best lifts combined.

“This year by far, the competitive division was the men’s 89kg division with five competitors. The great thing with the sport is that is we have people from different backgrounds competing. They all benefit from the functional aspects of the sport. My aim as chairman of the KZN Weightlifting Federation is to see the love for the sport grow,” he said.

Venter said this year’s competition featured 16 competitors.

“We have some incredible athletes here in KZN, and we may even take a team up to the National Weightlifting Champs. The talent is certainly there and I feel KZN could be one of the strongest teams,” he said.

For more from Northglen News, follow us on Facebook, X or Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.