Darren Liddel (born 6 May 1971) was a

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

competitor for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. At the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

he won 3 gold medals in

, a gold medal in each of the men's 108+ kg

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without res ...

, snatch, and combined total. He also competed at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

where he placed 5th in the men's 108+ kg. On his return home from the

he received a hero's welcome in

Te Atatū Te Atatū (from the Māori : "the dawn") is the name of two adjacent suburbs in West Auckland, New Zealand: ''Te Atatū Peninsula'' and ''Te Atatū South''. They are located next to each other some 10 kilometres to the west of the Auckland city ...

. At the time he said: "Little did I know three weeks ago that I would be returning home to this kind of welcome. I’m speechless". After the

he was troubled by a worsening wrist injury, and within 2 years he had stopped weightlifting.

References

Living people 1971 births New Zealand male weightlifters Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Weightlifters at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1998 Commonwealth Games People educated at Rutherford College, Auckland Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting 20th-century New Zealand people 21st-century New Zealand people Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games {{NewZealand-weightlifting-bio-stub