Kaitaia Olympic weightlifter aims for place at Commonwealth Games

Aspiring Olympic Games Olympic weightlifter, Holly Drain, in the place she spends most of her time - training in her home gym in Kaitaia. Photo / Myjanne Jensen

It's not a commonly known sport in the Far North, but one local physiotherapist is aiming to one day represent New Zealand as an Olympic weightlifter at the Olympic Games.

This weekend, 23-year-old Holly Drain will compete at the Commonwealth Games trials in Auckland, which if successful will mean her dreams of becoming an Olympian will be one step closer to becoming a reality.

Holly, originally from Gisborne, moved to Kaitaia a year ago with her partner, where they now work as physiotherapists.

The couple met while studying physiotherapy at Auckland University and it was during Holly's time in the supercity that she fell in love with the sport.

Holly explained that she originally took up Crossfit but made the switch to exclusively training Olympic weightlifting back in 2016.

In 2017, Holly was asked to compete as part of the national team for the under 64kg weight category and said she'd been hooked ever since.

"I never went into this thinking I wanted to compete professionally, but after I tried it I knew I wanted to keep going," Drain said.

"Olympic weightlifting is such a great sport because it requires so much technique and strength. There's a great community involved with it.

"It's my goal now to hopefully compete at the Commonwealth Games this year and eventually go on to the Olympics."

Since her first competition, Holly has also represented New Zealand at various international competitions including Australia, New Caledonia and Japan.

Her dreams of competing again came to a standstill, however, when she sustained a serious back injury in 2019, which saw her out of training for a year.

Budding New Zealand Olympic weightlifter and Far North physiotherapist, Holly Drain, performing a snatch. Photo / Supplied.

Holly said there were times when she felt like giving up, but thanks to persistence and a good training regime she managed to get back into training again last year.

Olympic weightlifting, or 'Olly lifting' as it's also known, is often confused with powerlifting - a less technical sport that focuses more on completing three controlled, heavy lifts, known as the squat, bench press and deadlift.

In contrast, Olympic weightlifting focuses more on performing two ballistic lifts overhead with good technique, known as the clean and jerk, and the snatch.

In order for Holly to be considered a place in this year's Commonwealth Games, she must lift the heaviest total weight in both movements, with only three attempts at each.

She must also beat her two other opponents in the under-76kg Open Women's weight class, who will all be aiming for a total of 198-203kg.

The heaviest Holly has lifted in training is 88kg in the snatch and 100 kg in the clean and jerk in a competition.

Richie Wong is Holly's coach and owns Functional Strength Olympic at Functional Strength HQ in Auckland, which offers specialist programmes and coaching for people interested in competing in Olympic Weightlifting.

Wong is a Weightlifting New Zealand international coach and the gym's head coach, Richie Patterson, is a three-time Olympic and Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

He said while the weekend's competition would be tight, he was confident that Holly was in with a chance to qualify for the Commonwealth Games.

"I've been training Holly for about three to four years now and she's always had great movement patterns and a natural mind-body connection," Wong said.

"I saw lots of potential in her while she was training CrossFit, so I asked her to give Olympic weightlifting a try.

"It's a huge feat in itself for her to be at this stage of the competition, so I'm very proud of her and believe she has what it takes to get through to the Commonwealth Games."

In order to prepare for this type of competition, Holly must train five days a week, sometimes twice a day, for several hours.

She trains at her homemade gym in her garage, and also works with a nutritionist for her diet plus requires weekly massages to ensure adequate muscle recovery.

Holly Drain at the North Islands 2020 Olympic Weightlifting competition in Fielding where she completed her personal best competition score of 85kg Snatch and 100kg Clean and Jerk. Photo / Kurt Hay

Wong said for someone like Holly, who was in their "first phase" as an athlete, it was ideal to accumulate around 10,000 hours to help towards becoming autonomous and to attain mastery of movement.

He said the sport was now gaining in popularity among women, with more than 60 per cent of all competitors now female.

With her career just starting, Wong said it was great to see women like Holly taking the sport to the next level.

"Olympic weightlifting has changed a lot for female competitors recently, with a move away from 'cutting' and being lean, to focusing more on overall health, including hormonal health and a healthy weight range," Wong said.

"For us, women's weightlifting is in such a great space and making so much progress. It's very empowering and awesome to see women enjoying that."

If Holly hits the total weight required to qualify and manages to lift heavier than her competitors, she will be put forward to the New Zealand Olympic Committee to be considered for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (England) in July this year.