Olympic Ambassador Visit

This week we had a very special guest star at our school, Richie Patterson. 

He was INSPIRING!

He spoke about his journey from a young age to becoming a New Zealand representative in weightlifting. He talked about the the Olympic ideas of Friendship, Respect and Excellence. He also told us how resilience played a big part in his success. 

Growing up, he became interested in may different sports. He represented school in rugby, cricket and athletics (in Year 8). 

In high school his sporting interests grew and he was involved in rugby, cricket, hockey, squash, athletics, touch rugby. He began weightlifting at age 14 and was selected to represent NZ as an Under 16 Weightlifter.

From 2006-2016 Competed in the Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games. Placings include a silver medal at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010 and a gold medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Currently holds all the New Zealand records in three weight categories – 77kgs, 85kgs, and 94kgs. He is only the second New Zealand weightlifter to compete at three Olympic Games.

Now Richie runs his own gym and coaches other weightlifters. He is heading to the Olympic games in Tokyo in a few weeks in the role of coach for the weightlifting team. Watch to see if you can spot him (and see if he runs his finger along his eyebrow - that's his secret way of saying 'hello' to New Zealand).

What are some of the things you are passionate about and would like to achieve? Maybe you could let us know in the comments.