Weightlifting: In the heat of the moment — three gold medals for Renee Baarspul

Weightlifter Renee Baarspul arrives at Hawke’s Bay Airport after winning three gold medals at the Pacific Games in Honiara. Photo / Warren Buckland

As successes in sport go, Napier fitness practitioner Renee Baarspul has seen a few, given she takes part in a fair number of sporting pursuits.

But few have been more uplifting than the three gold medals she won in the 87kg women’s class of weightlifting at the 2023 Pacific Games, which started in Solomon Islands’ capital Honiara on November 19 and ends on Saturday.

On Thursday night, in the heat of the Marantha Hall and up against eight other weightlifters from seven Pacific nations, she claimed the treble by lifting 95kg to win the snatch and 112kg to win the clean and jerk, with the third medal for the combined total (207kg).

The temperature was in the mid-to-high 20s about the time of the event, the last on a day when the temperature ranged from 24-31C — and it was even hotter on most days and nights.

“It was bloody hot,” she said after arriving back in Napier on Monday. “It wasn’t conditions I’ve ever experienced before.”

But despite the heat, and being the last performer of the night, she made six successful lifts in six attempts, entering the snatch at 89kg and the clean and jerk at 106kg, including taking the clean and jerk honours at 109kg but making the extra lift to help the total.

It was a bonus that the 95kg snatch was a personal best, in an Olympic Games qualifying championships, though she says the days of a go on the biggest stage have passed her by, with her focus now on the Oceania Games in Auckland in February, in the masters category but with a bit of hope of making it in the open grades.

One of more than 70 New Zealand athletes across several sports at the games, Baarspul, who’s won at every national championship since 2020 when she added the pursuit to her higher-performance levels of the past, such as gymnastics, trampolining and surf lifesaving, including a worldwide top-15 effort in the gymnastics discipline of tumbling, she said: “This one’s up there. It’s a continental championship, and quite a big event.”

She has also excelled in other sports and events, including running and CrossFit, and has also fitted in 16 seasons of netball.

Realising the athletics team could have had one more member, she chanced that she might fill a gap, albeit “only joking”.

After all, she does have a surf lifesaving national beach flag title to her name, so there is a bit of sprinting in the background.

With a bachelor’s degree in sports and exercise science behind her, along with a stint as a baker manager, she works as a personal trainer at Napier City Council pools the Aquatic Centre and Ocean Spa.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 50 years of journalism experience in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.