Weightlifting: Four named in NZ Games team

Four New Zealand weightlifters have been named to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March.

Three men and one women were announced today by The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC). They are Mark Spooner in the 69kg division, Richard Patterson (77kg), Grant Cavit (94kg) and Keisha-Dean Soffe (75kg and over).

Cavit and Soffe competed at the Manchester Games in 2002. Soffe was fifth while Cavit, who competed in the lighter 85kg division, was sixth.

High Performance Manager for Olympic Weightlifting New Zealand, Richard Dryden, was more than happy with the team selected.

"This team is a good mix of experience and new blood and Mark Spooner and Richard Patterson both aged 21 have a bright future ahead of them," Dryden said in a statement.

It will be harder for lifters to win medals at these Games.

Previously three medals have been awarded per division, one for snatch, one for clean and jerk and one for total.

However, new rules mean that it has been cut to one per division, for the overall total.

New Zealand team:

Men

69kg: Mark Spooner

77kg: Richard Patterson

94kg: Grant Cavit

Women

75kg-plus: Keisha-Dean Soffe

- NZPA