TOUA Loa Dika

General
OLYMPIC MEMORIES
In 2000 she competed at her first Olympic Games in Sydney through a tripartite invitation. She had learned about her invite while working as a volunteer at a fun run in Papua New Guinea. "It was a Sunday morning and we were working as volunteers at a fun run to raise money for PNG's Olympic team. I was actually collecting rubbish at the time, empty water bottles and a lot of bits of paper lying around at the stadium at the end of the fun run. There were thousands of people there and they made a public announcement that I had been selected to represent PNG at Sydney. It was a big shock to me, I knew nothing about it." (insidethegames.biz, 22 Mar 2020)

TOUGH TIMES
She considered retiring from the sport after she was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2013. "As soon as I got back to Noumea [from competing at the 2013 Oceania Championships in Brisbane, QLD, Australia] I wasn't felling well - I thought it was a common cold. Then one night I was really bad, I was admitted to hospital and I found out I had tuberculosis. I never told anyone this, but when I was in hospital I sort of gave up on weightlifting. I guess that was the worst time for me. I said to myself when I get back to the Oceania Weightlifting Institute [OWI] I might as well pack up and go back home. But when I walked in and [coach] Paul [Coffa] hugged me, and told me that everything was going to be okay, that I needed to train the next day. That changed my mind. I couldn't bend my knees, I couldn't even squat 50kg, that's how hard it was during that period. But I fought my way back." (insidethegames.biz, 22 Mar 2020)

CLUB FOUNDER
She founded the Loua Dika Toua Weightlifting Club in Hanuabada, Papua New Guinea. (thenational.com.pg, 18 Nov 2016; Athlete, 19 Jul 2014)

In 2000 she became the first female athlete representing Papua New Guinea to compete in weightlifting at the Olympic Games when the women's competition was held for the first time in Sydney. (trukai.com.pg, 18 Jun 2002; SportsDeskOnline, 17 Sep 2000)