19 year-old Weightlifter Charlotte Moss of Auckland lifted her way into the history books overnight becoming New Zealand's first Pacific Games medalist.
Competing at the 15th Pacific Games in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Moss won the bronze medal with a two-lift total of 129kilos in the Women's 53 kilogram weight class.
Despite being nervous heading into her final lift, Moss described the feeling as being "pretty cool" to take home New Zealand's first Pacific Games medal.
"It was really tough out there as quite a number of competitors did not manage to complete their lifts" said Moss. "I simply concentrated on myself and my own lifts".
Moss was joined by fellow team mate and 16 year-old Oceania Championships competitor Paige Lawgun of Whangarei. The Kiwi duo set the tone for the New Zealand team with Lawgun bagging a gold and bronze medal in the Youth and Junior Oceania categories respectively.
New Zealand Head of Delegation Natalie Tong was thrilled with the girls' achievements.
"Both girls rose to the occasion and performed extremely well on the platform," she said.
Competition continues today for the New Zealand team with seven men lifting in the 77 and 69 kilogram divisions and seven women in the 58 and 63kg divisions.
New Zealand's 34-strong Weightlifting contingent are competing through until Wednesday with the 2015 Pacific Games doubling up as the Oceania Weightlifting Championships.
Across town at the Bisini fields the New Zealand U23 Men's soccer team continued their winning ways claiming a hard fought 1-0 win over host team Papua New Guinea.
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