Papua New Guinea's Olympic weightlifting star, Dika Toua, celebrated a triumphant gold medal win at her debut in the 2024 United Masters Weightlifting Championship in Suva, Fiji. Competing in the women’s 40-44 age group (50kg division), the 40-year-old athlete lifted an impressive total of 158kg, consisting of 68kg in the snatch and a remarkable 90kg in the clean and jerk. Despite battling an elbow injury, Toua expressed her excitement, stating, “I competed last night (Wednesday, September 25th) in the 50kg 40-44 age group and won gold. Doing better than last week’s competition at the Commonwealth Championships despite the injury.” Toua was part of a determined team, with four out of six initial Papua New Guinea masters lifters competing. Former PNG lifter Udu Heni also showcased his talent, earning a silver medal in the 73kg 50-54 age group after a close contest with an Australian opponent. While their achievements were noteworthy, financial constraints prevented two other former lifters, Rita Kari and Miria Vagi, from participating, limiting the total number of competitors from PNG. Toua, who also holds the position of president of the PNG Weightlifting Federation, highlighted that this event was not funded by the federation as it was an individual competition. She explained, “The federation’s main focus is on our development squad, the elite, and seniors preparing for the 2025 Mini Pacific Games in Palau.” However, she remains hopeful about the future, stating, “We hope to look into this in the future as this will be a way forward for our former and much older lifters who wish to represent PNG and have the opportunity at the world stage.” Current PNG lifters, Thelma Toua and Morea Baru, were in the final sessions on Friday, September 27th. The 2024 United Masters Weightlifting Championship commenced on September 23rd and runs until today, September 29th.