KEY POINTS:
From a frigid garden shed in rural Canterbury to the hot house in Beijing - that's the contrasting path weightlifter Mark Spooner has taken en route to his Olympic debut.
The Auckland boatbuilder will have experienced both climatic extremes before he competes in the 69kg class on August 12. Minus 5degC at his coach's lifestyle block at Taitapu, and soon the stifling humidity of the host city.
Still, in one sense the heat will not be on the 23-year-old. He may be regularly lifting 10 tonnes a week during his build-up phase, but there is no weight of expectation attached once he arrives in Beijing on August 6.
Spooner and fellow Auckland Richard Patterson, who contests the 77kg division, will not medal - personal bests and making the top 16 will be reward enough for the first weightlifters to represent New Zealand at an Olympics since Nigel Avery and Olivia Baker competed at Sydney 2000.
It is fitting Spooner and Patterson will compete at the Aeronautics and Astronautics gym of Beijing's University - the podium might as well be in a galaxy far, far away.
Yet, despite knowing they are destined to be backmarkers among the 170 weightlifters originally entered - habitual drug cheats Bulgaria have subsequently withdrawn their team - the pair are enthused about the experience as they target the more realistic goal of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Patterson has spent 10 weeks training in the Finnish summer with coach Ari Moilanen while Spooner had undertaken a more basic approach - enduring two training blocks in coach Richard Dryden's backyard.
"I was certainly out of my comfort zone. I'd never seen snow before, it's not as warm as you'd want," he told NZPA.
Dryden has mentored Spooner for seven years, ever since he discovered weightlifting while lugging hire furniture around with his father.
"Weightlifting New Zealand hired some for their competitions - we'd go along and set it up and one time I stayed behind to see what guys my age were lifting. I thought 'I could do that'," he explained.
Spooner promptly ditched rugby and first represented New Zealand as a 16-year-old, after gaining some valuable insights from multiple Commonwealth Games gold medallist Precious McKenzie.
The South African-born lifter who represented Great Britain and then New Zealand, was living nearby.
"My dad met him once or twice before and knew he lived in the area. He tracked him down and said `Mark's pretty keen. Have you got a bit of time to show him technique?'".
Spooner's first international age group competition confirmed his belief weightlifting was a worthy pursuit regardless of its dubious reputation.
"That opened my eyes to the future I could have," he said.
"I soon started breaking records and went from strength to strength really."
Spooner has persevered despite knowing better resourced rivals - whether by natural talent or illegal injection - will overpower his personal bests.
The Oceania champion has a best combined total of 289kg - the current world record of 357kg is owned by disgraced Bulgarian Galabin Boevski, who was banned for eight years after testing positive in 2000.
Another Bulgarian Georgi Markov has the snatch record (165kg) while China's Li Maosheng set the clean and jerk standard with a massive 197kg five years ago.
Every year, around 40 lifters are suspended for failing dope tests. Eleven members of the Greek national team and 11 Bulgarians have tested positive this year.
Spooner said positive tests were disheartening but hopefully the testing procedures weeded out the cheats.
"You know drugs are out there, you just have to forget about what they're doing and concentrate on your own training and hope they get caught."
And given the sport's history of rampant drug abuse he also has some uncomfortable moments at work.
"They guys ask 'what are you on?' that sort of thing.
"You take that to heart because you've done a lot of work to get to that level and they're joking around thinking you're taking drugs."
- NZPA
