Mereia Turaganivalu

Fifteen-year-old weightlifter Mereia Turaganivalu has secured Fiji’s first medal at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship, taking home bronze in the 59kg youth category.

Turaganivalu finished third, behind Georgia Sadler of Australia, who claimed silver and Malaysia’s Nurui Syasya Samsur who won gold.

Reflecting on her achievement, Turaganivalu says this was an exciting outing for her, calling it the beginning of her journey toward greater accomplishments in weightlifting.

“It’s been amazing and the training has been hard, process has been hard but I want to thank the Lord for today and the opportunity that he has given me, my family’s support. I want to take this time to thank everybody that’s been supporting me from home, school, also here at the Vodafone Arena, it’s just all been amazing.”

Mereia Turaganivalu after receiving her Bronze medal

The Gospel High School student also shared her aspiration to represent Fiji at the Olympics, just as her mother Ivy Shaw did.

This was only Turaganivalu’s second weightlifting competition, following her debut last year.

The competition continues at the Vodafone Arena in Suva.

You can watch the LIVE coverage on FBC Sports.