Nauru has scooped up another weightlifting medal in Glasgow after 17-year-old weightlifting prodigy Femily-Crystie Notte secured bronze in the women’s 63kg division, becoming the first woman in the Pacific Islands to medal at these Commonwealth Games.
Competing at the SEC Armadillo, Notte was the youngest lifter in the field and the only junior athlete among 11 qualified competitors.
She lifted 100kg in the snatch, finishing behind defending champion Maude Charron of Canada, who posted 102kg before going on to lift 130kg in the clean and jerk.
Notte then successfully lifted 116kg in the clean and jerk to put herself in medal contention.
The competition came down to the final lifts, with England’s Sarah Smale producing a strong finish to claim silver with a total of 217kg (95kg snatch, 122kg clean and jerk), edging Notte by just 1kg.
“I’m beyond happy about myself and my performance. Feels awesome to compete against an Olympic medallist (Charron),” Notte said.
Notte only began competing internationally in 2024, but has already established herself as one of Oceania’s rising weightlifting stars, winning junior, youth and senior titles at the Oceania Weightlifting Championships.
She is also the current junior record holder in the 63kg division following her performance in Samoa earlier this year.
The teenager now shifts her focus to upcoming regional and international events as she prepares for the 2027 Junior Commonwealth Games in Malta. Long-term, she has her sights set on the Olympic Games.
“After this performance, it depends on my coach when I get back to training; however, I am looking forward to the next championships.”
Nauru Olympic Committee president Marcus Stephen praised the performance of the country’s six weightlifters, who competed across three days and delivered two medals.
“Nauru has won medals in weightlifting since our country joined to compete at the Commonwealth Games. Yesterday we witnessed Ezekiel Moses compete in the men’s 71kg weight class where he won our first medal,” Stephen said.
“As for Femily-Crystie, she is a junior yet won a medal amongst very senior competitors. She also holds the current world youth record as well as the Oceania junior, youth and senior championship record in that category.”
The former Commonwealth Games gold medallist said selection for the national team was based on qualification standards rather than age.
“We hope to bring more weightlifters to compete in the future; age is not the requirement, but meeting the qualification is the main requirement,” Stephen said.
“Nauru sent our six lifters to compete because they qualified on merit and the results showed with good finishes from them all here in Glasgow.”
Stephen said the result was a proud moment for the nation and thanked supporters watching from home.
“Hard work, consistent and high-intensity training has got them this far, and I am confident they use this experience to compete in future weightlifting championships ahead.”
The six-member Nauru team featured four junior lifters: Johannes Adam (18, men’s 60kg), Jo-Beth Deireragea (18, women’s 48kg), Margaret Bless Harris (16, women’s 58kg) and Notte. They were joined by senior lifters Marcincy Cook (24, men’s 88kg) and Ezekiel Moses (25, men’s 71kg), who also claimed bronze.
