Personal best for Pera at Junior World Champs

Weightlifter Sam Pera Jnr set a new personal best when he lifted 155kg in the snatch in the 105kg+ division at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships in Cali, Colombia last week.
Tony Hole of the Cook Islands Weightlifting Association advised that Pera Jnr finished 13th out of 16 in his division, lifting 155kg in the snatch and 185kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 340kg. He missed 195kg in the clean and jerk. His total lift bettered the total of 335kg he lifted at the Oceania/Sth Pacific Championships back in March.
Pera Jnr’s next mission is the Beijing Olympics in August where, still a junior, he will compete against much older lifters. Hole said 10 wild cards were allocated for weightlifting with Pera Jnr being rated number one by the President of the International Weightlifting Federation for a wild card. Such is the promise seen in Pera Jnr by the World body. In all, four wild cards were allocated to the Oceania region.
Pera Junior’s medal tally currently stands at 12 gold, 14 Silver and 5 bronze medals making a total of 31 medals in international competition.

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