Eileen Floanna Maria Cikamatana

Eileen Floanna Maria Cikamatana was born on September 18th, 1999, and she’s a renowned Australian weightlifter with roots in Fiji. She competes primarily in the women’s 81 kg category and has been very successful, winning gold medals at the Commonwealth Games for both Fiji and Australia. 

Her lifting career began at only 11 years old, and it was inspired by her early experiences helping her father carry heavy sacks of animal feed on their farm in Levuka, Fiji. This sparked her interest in weightlifting and her talent was quickly recognized. She started training seriously and eventually moved to the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in New Caledonia when she was 16. 

Cikamatana’s career is marked by her impressive achievements and records. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 World Youth Championships and the silver at the 2017 World Juniors, which earned her the 2017 Fiji Sportswoman of the Year Award. 

In 2018, she won a gold medal in the women’s 90 kg event at the Commonwealth Games, where she represented Fiji. But despite her successes, she faced a major setback when she was controversially omitted from the 2018 Fiji sports awards. In 2019, after a dispute between Weightlifting Fiji and the Fiji Weightlifters Association, she decided to start representing Australia under coach Paul Coffa. This made it possible for her to return to international competition, although she missed out on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.  

Her determination and hard work paid off at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, where she won gold in the women’s 87 kg event and became the first woman to win gold for two different countries at the Commonwealth Games. She also won a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships in the 87 kg category and a bronze medal at the 2023 IWF World Championships in the 81 kg category. 

Outside of her competitive achievements, she’s known for her inspiring story and her role as a positive influence in the weightlifting community.