Weightlifter Tegan Napper hoping for success at home Commonwealth Games

LOTS of Australian athletes are looking forward to competing at a “home” Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast this week.But it will be even more special for Adelaide-based weightlifter Tegan Napper, who hails from the host city.

Weightlifter Tegan Napper is hoping to win her first Commonwealth Games medal on the Gold Coast, her hometown. Picture: AAP Image/James Elsby.

LOTS of Australian athletes are looking forward to competing at a “home” Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast this week.

But it will be even more special for Adelaide-based weightlifter Tegan Napper, who hails from the host city.

Napper, a member of the Australian squad for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, has been living in Kensington Gardens for the past three years but her parents, John and Gail, and her sister, Jodi, remain on the Gold Coast.

They will be among about 50 family and friends who have tickets to cheer her on this Friday wearing “Team Napper” T-shirts.

“In Glasgow I had my immediate family there and my partner (her coach Rob Galsworthy) there,” Napper, 31, says.

“It’s going to be really different this time having a lot of familiar faces in the crowd.

“(The T-shirts) are really bright yellow and green so they’ll stand out, for sure.

“I can’t wait to see everybody wearing them all together at once. It’ll be really special.

“I definitely feel like I perform a bit better when I’ve got a bunch of people there ... so I definitely want to feed off it as a good thing, rather than it add pressure.”

“It was a really big part in me wanting to go to these Games because not only were they a home Games but they’re on the Gold Coast so it’s a double-whammy.

“I’m thankful and glad I did.”

Weightlifter Tegan Napper. Picture: AAP Image/James Elsby.

Napper had to weigh herself every day and watch what she ate and drank before competing in Glasgow to stay under her category’s 48kg threshold.

But she has moved up to the 53kg class, allowing her to stress less over her food intake, which has included chicken, medium steak, oats and green vegetables since getting to the Games village last week.

“I’m staying away from the dessert section – for now.”

In Glasgow, Napper was 2kg shy of third place in the snatch and 5kg off in the clean and jerk.

She is determined to finish on the podium this time around.

“If everything goes according to plan and I have a good day ... that’s definitely the aim,” says Napper, who usually trains at Crossfit East Adelaide.

“If it all falls into place it’d be the icing on top and the cherry on top and everything on top.”

Originally published as Weightlifter Tegan Napper hoping for success at home Commonwealth Games