MELBOURNE GOLD MEDALLISTS LEAD WEIGHTLIFTING TEAM

ACGA, August 13: Melbourne gold medallists Deborah Acason (nee Lovely) and Ben Turner headline the 19-strong Australian weightlifting team to compete at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October.

Seasoned campaigners Acason and Amanda Phillips will make their third Games appearance and bring a wealth of experience to the Australian team.

Twenty-seven-year-old Acason, who also won silver in Manchester, will be chasing her second gold medal in the 75+kg category in Delhi. A talented all-around sportswoman, Acason also won a discus bronze medal at the 1999 World Youth Championships in her teens and was also an accomplished track cyclist.

The Australian men's campaign will be spearheaded by 26-year-old Queenslander Ben Turner, who will defend his Commonwealth Games title in Delhi, but this time in the 77kg class, moving up from the 69kg category.

Also in the medal hunt is Corran Hocking who won silver and bronze in Manchester, and Melbourne silver medalist Damon Kelly, both men competing in the 105+kg class.

The sole Australian male weightlifter at the 2008 Olympic Games, Kelly finished ninth in Beijing.

Seen Lee, who holds the distinction of being Australia's first female weightlifting competitor and medallist at a Commonwealth Games (bronze in Manchester), will compete in her second Games and is a strong contender to bring home the gold in Delhi.

Victorian Belinda van Tienen who withdrew from the Melbourne Games due to a stress fracture in her rib also returns, as does Melbourne 2006 bronze medallist Erika Yamasaki from Queensland.

Vivian Lee, who started weightlifting after being inspired by Yamasaki's bronze in Melbourne, will be making her Commonwealth Games debut alongside fellow debutant and medal favourite Jenna Myers, the sole Tasmanian on the team.

Three weightlifters who represented Cameroon at the Melbourne 2006 Games, Simplice Ribouem, Francois Etoundi and Daniel Koum will don the green and gold colours for the first time at a Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Twenty-seven year-old Ribouem won a bronze medal in the 85kg class in Melbourne and is one of the favourites to snag the gold medal. Etoundi and Koum who placed fourth and fifth respectively in Melbourne, will compete in the 69kg and 62kg categories.

The youngest member of the team is 21-year-old Queenslander Rob Galsworthy (105kg) who will be making his Games debut alongside Cambodian-born Vannara Be (62kg).

Four elite athletes with a disability have been named for the integrated powerlifting competition, led by Beijing Paralympics silver medallist Darren Gardiner, who also won bronze in Melbourne.

Gardiner will be joined by four-time Paralympian Deahnne McIntyre, Leigh Skinner and Abebe Fekadu, the trio making their Commonwealth Games debut. Forty-year-old Fekadu who took up powerlifting in 2002, was a refugee from Ethiopia, who injured his back in a car crash after fleeing political persecution.

"It is good to see that a number of proven 2006 Games medallists have been selected for the 2010 Team," said ACGA chief executive officer Perry Crosswhite.

"The competition in Delhi is expected to be quite strong and this experience should assist our lifters to meet the expected challenge from the host nation, India, as well as the growing strength of other Commonwealth nations."

Australian Weightlifting Federation CEO Michael Keelan said that the competition in Delhi will be the toughest yet but the Australian team is confident of performing well.

"This Commonwealth Games is without doubt going to be the biggest and toughest yet," said Keelan.

"Weightlifters representing countries from all five continents will be battling for the 51 medals on offer. Malaysia, Canada, Samoa and host nation India have talented athletes whose rankings show they could win a swag of medals, however the

Australian team remain confident they can bring 10 medals home."

Introduced onto the Commonwealth Games program at the 1950 Auckland Games, Australia has won 54 gold medals in weightlifting. Women competed for the first time at the 2002 Games.

The Delhi 2010 weightlifting competition will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex from 4 to 12 October 2010.

Australia's 2010 Commonwealth Games weightlifting team

Women

Vivian Lee, 48kg (32, VIC)

Erika Yamasaki, 53kg (23, QLD)

Seen Lee, 58kg (28, VIC)

Belinda van Tienen, 69kg (24, VIC)

Amanda Phillips, 75kg (29,QLD)

Jenna Myers, 75kg (24, TAS)

Deborah Acason, 75+kg (27, QLD)

Men

Vannara Be, 62kg (22, VIC)

Daniel Koum, 62kg (25, VIC)

Francois Etoundi, 69kg (26, VIC)

Ben Turner, 77kg (26, QLD)

Simplice Ribouem, 94kg (28, VIC)

Rob Galsworthy, 105kg (21, QLD)

Damon Kelly, 105+kg (27, QLD)

Corran Hocking, 105+kg (30, VIC)

Elite athletes with a disability Coaching Staff

Deahnne McIntyre (ACT)

Leigh Skinner (QLD)

Darren Gardiner (WA)

Abebe Fekadu (QLD)

Mike Keelan - women's head coach

Yourik Sarkisian - men's head coach

Miles Wydall - assistant coach

Anthony Dove - assistant coach

Press Release issued by ACGA