Could Manuel Minginfel win Gold in Beijing?
Could Manuel Minginfel be the Pacific’s answer to that elusive Olympic gold medal? The Olympic Games have been around for over 110 years and during that time Australia and New Zealand have been hogging all the medals, with their small Pacific cousins left to make up the numbers. Aside from Paea Wolfgramm’s silver medal at the Atlanta Games a decade ago, which still ranks as one of Tonga’s greatest moments, that could all change come 2008, thanks to the 27 year-old Micronesian with the Spanish name. For the past few years now, regional sports officials—whether admittedly or quietly—now realise that if an Olympic gold is to be won by a Pacific nation, it will be in weightlifting. It is the only sport where Pacific athletes are coming close to international standards. The sport is certainly the sleeping giant. Nauru’s Marcus Stephen (7 times Commonwealth Games gold medallist) got the ball rolling at the World Championships in Athens in 1999 when he clean and jerked 172.5kg to win a silver
